We’re still in the midst of what might be called the “Great 2024 Drone Flap.”

A “flap” is an upsurge in incidents that amass at well above average rates.

Before the drone paroxysm was a similar flap of orbs or “UAPs” (unidentified aerial or anomalous phenomena, once known more conversationally as UFOs) over the White House.

That brought to mind a UFO flap in 1952, when unidentified lights and objects were reported or detected on radar en masse above the Washington D.C. area for two consecutive weekends, with even now, seven decades hence, no explanation. Never before or after has the Air Force undergone such a tidal wave of anomalous reports.

The 1952 flap produced 16,000 news items in the 148 leading American papers, and at one juncture seven objects were seen on radar in formation at the same time. They would appear and disappear, unlikely that drone technology was that advanced more than seventy years ago.

In 1947 was another “flap” from the state of Washington to New Mexico and Arizona (hundreds of sightings, the same year as Roswell). A smaller flap occurred in 1954 and then repeated in the mid-1960s, especially in Michigan, making the cover of Life Magazine.

These and other outbreaks have never been sufficiently explained, making the current drama of drones different in that regard, with photographs actually showing some of the strange lights and objects to be small mechanical winged crafts. (Below, New Jersey)

Bafflingly, the federal government still has not explained them,  oddly and perhaps suspiciously aloof aside from Homeland Security, which has suggested shooting them down.

And so speculation is rampant. Many believe it’s a secret military project, perhaps to test the detection capabilities of new technology. More alarmingly, others speculate a nuclear warhead is missing and the government is using low-flying drones to “sniff” it out, which would make shooting them down a poor idea.

Reports Trending Politics:

“John Ferguson, the CEO of Wichita, Kansas-based company Saxson Aerospace, offered a chilling theory on the massive uptick in drone sightings that have plagued New Jersey and surrounding areas. In a lengthy video statement, Ferguson explained that during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the late 1980’s and early 90’s, thousands of nuclear warheads were dismantled, particularly in Soviet satellite states. In 1997, a former Soviet nuclear official testified before the U.S. House of Representatives about the existence of small, suitcase-sized nuclear weapons. Alexander Lebed testified that only 48 out of 132 of the small nuclear weapons were located when arsenals were hastily dismantled. ‘I believe, there were over 80 nuclear warheads that were in Ukraine that came up missing. We don’t know where they are. Maybe somebody does, but nobody really knows where these are. And I speak with some pretty high-level government officials on this stuff, and it seems as though that is the case,” Ferguson went on to say.

He pointed to an incident in 2022, when the federal government deployed drones to search for missing nuclear waste. He also referenced past drone incidents, including sightings over I-70 in the Midwest, where it was believed airborne devices were searching for missing radioactive material.

Perplexing are reports that some drones over the New York-New Jersey area (they have now been seen in eight states) were spraying something.

It has even reached into the spiritual domain, with reports not only of mechanical drones but also orbs that resemble what Indians called “spirit lights.” One podcaster cited Ephesians 6:12. (“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”)

In some cases, both orbs and drone-like mechanisms have been seen together—in cooperation or conflict, if credible, no one can discern.

Serious it is when, as happened Sunday, the runways of a local airport (Stewart International) sixty miles north of New York City are shut down due to drones above or nearby. The objects are all over the place and odd indeed.

“The government knows what is happening,” President-elect Donald J. Trump said of the sightings over many states, though he declined to say if he had been briefed by government officials. “Look, our military knows where they took off from. If it’s a garage. They can go right into that garage. They know where it came from and where it went. And for some reason, they don’t want to comment.” He added: “I mean, they happen to be over Bedminster,” he said, referring to the home he owns in New Jersey. “They’re very close to Bedminster. I think maybe I won’t spend the weekend in Bedminster. I decided to cancel my trip.”

Still others speculate on the wilder side that it’s a “false flag” operation by the government (an official hoax aimed at some unknown purpose) and that some of them may been holograms.

The government insists the drones pose no security risk, though some are the size of cars and buzz residences.

Also, they have been over military facilities, including sensitive ones. One theory was that Iran had sent a drone ship off the coast, but the military now says satellite images show no such vessel within range of our shores. Russia tweaking us over Ukraine? China flexing technological muscles?

Hidden nukes?

One recalls the Chinese balloon that traveled across the United States, including over military bases before being shot down. At a submarine base near Jacksonville, Florida, drones are regularly spotted and immobilized (one reportedly traced back to a home owned by a Chinese national).

Remote signals going back to the operator can be tracked with the right equipment, notes The New York Times. “The stronger the remote signal, the easier it is to find the operator. In New Jersey, for example, US Air Force Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst partnered with AeroDefense, a local business specializing in tracking technology and drone detection, to produce a system to track drones across the installation as well as pinpoint perpetrators who fly them. They started this program back in 2020. Then there are drones with AI software which bypass a lot of tracking tools. If the drone is controlling itself then there’s no operator signal to trace.

One thing for certain: drones in great enough numbers can make for a spectacular show in the sky.

Take a look at a display of five thousand small drones in Texas: