Making Sense of UFO Hysteria
Many people are reporting 'drones' in New Jersey and elsewhere. But these reports exist in the context of a much broader geopolitical information war and should be evaluated critically.
Over the last several weeks, a steady drumbeat of reports of "drone sightings" has captivated social media users around the world — especially in New Jersey. The public should be skeptical of such reports while also being alert to the possibility of covert activity by hostile foreign powers. Here's a roundup of what we know so far.
Psychological Warfare and the Noosphere
As I've reported previously, there is a network of entrepreneurial UFO promoters that has been increasingly successful in its efforts to infiltrate the US Congress and inject "UAP Disclosure" provisions into the National Defense Authorization Act. Back in February, I anticipated that we would see a flurry of UFO-related activity from this network later this year. This is now happening.
Dave Troy
Attorney Danny Sheehan has been a central character in efforts to foreground this issue and to require UAP disclosure in the NDAA over the last few years. His nonprofit group, the New Paradigm Institute, has claimed that it worked with Senators Schumer, Gillibrand, and Rubio on drafting legislation.
New Paradigm Institute directors Danny Sheehan and Jim Garrison also had a longstanding relationship with former Soviet premier Mikhail S. Gorbachev. From an older version of their website:
In 1995, former Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev appointed Sheehan as director of the “Strategic Initiative to Identify the New Global Paradigm,” where Sheehan was tasked with trying to predict what movement “would replace anti-Communism and anti-capitalism as the primary new organizing principle for major global institutions after the Cold War.” In 1999, Sheehan became director of the New Paradigm Project at Gorbachev’s “State of the World Forum.” A year later, he was named director of the New Paradigm Institute for the Study of New World Views.
This group's goals explicitly focus on inducing metanoia (Greek: conversion) to get people to see the world differently. History buffs may recall that Gorbachev and Reagan joked in 1985 about the possibility that an 'alien invasion' might unite humanity in shared purpose and also avoid nuclear war. (See also: Putin’s “Nuclear Psychosis” Ploy Has Deep Roots. Don’t Fall For It (Again).)
Smithsonian Magazine
Sheehan's goal is well aligned with Putin's "Noosphere" policy agenda. I've reported previously that Putin adopted this concept (developed by Vladimir Vernadsky, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and Édouard Le Roy in 1922) as a basis for "sustainable development." The Noosphere concept envisions a rebalanced world, with Russia at its center. A portrait of Teilhard overlooks Sheehan's office.
"Project Russia," another Kremlin-produced framework for information warfare, also places Russia at the top of a global monarchy, with a new 'elite' — think Musk, Thiel, and Xi — leading humanity forward. While this all may seem fantastical, we are seeing it unfold.
Dave Troy
Sheehan's network has deep roots. Other names connected to this psychological warfare effort include but are not limited to Lue Elizondo, David Grusch, Karl Nell, Steven Greer, Rick Doty, Hal Puthoff, Russell Targ, Willis Harman, Ingo Swann, Uri Geller, Robert Bigelow, Christopher Mellon, Leslie Keane, Brandon Fugal, Ross Coulthart (News Nation), Micah Hanks (The Debrief), George Knapp, Jacques Vallée, Linda Moulton Howe, Tom De Longe, Gary Nolan, Paul Hynek, Jeremy Corbell, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Clif High, Joe Rogan, Michael Flynn, Michael Shellenberger, and Alex Jones (Infowars).
BREAKING: UFO Lawyer and activist Danny Sheehan spent Thanksgiving with RFK Jr. 🇺🇸🛸🦃👀#ufotwitter pic.twitter.com/eSKI0VSk7Q
— Red Panda Koala (@RedPandaKoala) November 30, 2024
Danny Sheehan and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. spent Thanksgiving together in 2024.
In Congress, Reps. Anna Paulina Luna, Tim Burchett, Jared Moskowitz, and Senators Schumer, Gillibrand, and Rubio are promoters. Also expect Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Russia's other information warfare proxies to push this.
This network's goals are to sow distrust in government agencies in particular and in government generally. These active measures may afford the incoming Trump administration additional reasons to decimate government and declare a state of emergency upon taking office. Accordingly, be extremely skeptical of any claims originating from this network.
Real World Concerns
Subtracting out the information warfare aspects of this phenomenon, practical safety and security considerations remain. There have been some verified reports of Chinese nationals flying consumer drones over sensitive military-related installations. These reports should be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated.
Kenzie Finch
In New Jersey, where drone mania has reached a fever pitch, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued two Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR's), one over Bedminster, the location of a residence of Donald Trump, and another over Picatinny Arsenal which lasts through December 26, for the express purpose of drone testing.
Drone fever seems to be contagious, suggesting it may have a social element. While no doubt some actual drones have been sighted, many of the reports (a white light, and a green and red light) are consistent with hardware present on commercial aircraft. Additionally, long lines of aircraft on approach over busy airports such as Newark or LaGuardia can appear to hover silently, if one is observing them frontally. People with little experience observing the night sky armed with a cellphone camera are likely fueling a popular mania.
As someone with a pilot's license and accompanying training in identifying airplanes in a variety of situations, I believe this post on Reddit summarizes the situation well.
• 80% of the videos posted are clearly - and I mean clearly - planes or helicopters
• 10% are so bad you can’t tell what’s going on
• 5% are interesting but still not clearly identifiable
• 5% are UAPish
• I didn’t see any that are clearly identifiable as terrestrial drones
The biggest thing I took away is how shockingly bad people are at identifying planes.
Various politicians have waded into the controversy. New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew claimed that drones were being launched from an "Iranian mothership." New Jersey Senator elect Andy Kim posted a video of what is clearly an airplane. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan are both calling on government agencies for "transparency," even as it's not clear there are any actual "drones" to investigate. Reports of 'vehicle-sized' drones are not consistent with noise profiles one would expect from propulsion systems capable of lifting them; neither propeller nor jet noises appear to accompany these 'sightings.'
The Financial Times also published an excellent summary of the situation, concluding, "US officials have said they do not assess that the drone activity is connected to any foreign actors or adversaries. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh on Wednesday said no Iranian ship was launching drones towards the US."
Until the Federal Aviation Administration issues new Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFR's) or Notices to Air Missions (NOTAMs), pilots should have a high expectation that there is no credible threat to air safety. And if that is the case, then the public on the ground should be similarly reassured. While there is every reason to remain alert for the possibility of both terrestrial and extra-terrestrial airborne hazards, there is simply no credible reason for concern at this time.
Mass hysteria, or something else?
While it is too early to assess the full nature of this current phenomenon, we do know there is an active, long-running psychological warfare campaign to induce anti-government sentiment on the topic of UFOs, and we should look to that campaign first when evaluating such extraordinary claims.
If there is evidence available that points to something else — whether earthly or otherwise — then there will be reason to ask much more pointed questions about origins and motives. Until this happens, we should recall that people are fallible, and susceptible to myths, storytelling, and social contagion.
Some may remember the mysterious rash of "creepy clown sightings" that ripped through the world in 2016, or the utter insanity that followed the 1938 broadcast of Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds."
One possibility that may flow from this is a hardening of the division between believers and skeptics — with Putin, Trump, and Musk appealing to the former camp. Given the very real and imminent threat that poses, guard your mind. This is yet another way to drive an epistemological breakdown in the United States.
Carrie Blazina
About two-thirds of Americans believe in extraterrestrial life. For my part, I'm prepared to believe there is life elsewhere in the universe. However, I also know there is an active information war underway, and that we are all targets. Until we have hard evidence to inspect, whether earthly or celestial in origin, we should maintain healthy skepticism and apply a maximum degree of critical thinking.
Update: The 'drones' reported by former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan turned out to be stars in the constellation Orion.
Additional Resources
- Many Russia-aligned proxies such as Roseanne Barr are asserting that the current wave of sightings is the result of "Project Blue Beam," an old conspiracy narrative from the 1990's created by a Canadian named Serge Monast. It claims there will be a "gigantic space show wherein three-dimensional holographic laser projections will be beamed all over the planet." This, of course, is insane nonsense; however the psychological warfare being waged is obviously real.
- Another story being circulated suggests that the drones are looking for a nuclear device or dirty bomb. However, the FAA would be duty-bound to publish TFR's and NOTAMs if there was any threat from drone flights to commercial air traffic. This also mimics a 2017 hoax involving a dirty bomb scare at the Port of Charleston. This incident served as a testbed for public and official response for the QAnon conspiracy theory, launched later that year.
