Official records show the military has been developing and testing counterterrorism drones in New Jersey for years, amid claims of a government cover-up.
A 2018 defense contract awarded $50 million to a private robotics company to develop craft capable of creating 3D maps of urban areas for a program “against weapons of mass destruction.”
The contract was issued by the Army’s Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC), based at the Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway, New Jersey, where mysterious drones were first reported last month.
Meanwhile, documents show that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an air restriction alert on November 21, banning flights over the Picatinny base for “special safety reasons” through December 26.
The White House has maintained that the drone sightings – which coincidentally began on November 18 – do not involve a foreign adversary, do not pose a threat and are not part of a US military operation.
But Matt Sloane, founder of drone consultancy AI Skyfire, told DailyMail.com that the sightings “could be a contractor developing these drones for DoD.” [the Department of Defense].’
Retired CIA intelligence officer Rudy Ridolfi told DailyMail.com: ‘This FAA report shows US drone testing taking place in the area. It is a warning to others to stay away from the area during these dates. While the nature of the testing is not specified, it most likely involves testing payloads related to exploration.”
Experts have suggested the government is secretly behind the drones in New Jersey, and say government contractors could be testing unmanned aerial systems for the Defense Department at Picatinny Arsenal.
A spokesperson for Picatinny Arsenal told DailyMail.com: ‘We can confirm that they are not the result of any actions directed by Picatinny Arsenal or DEVCOM Armaments Center (formerly ARDEC).’
The government contract was awarded to Maryland-based company Robotics Research.
The FAA alert could be a signal that the contract had approval to test drones in a public space.
“They were testing them offsite on a military installation and now it was time to move the testing to a public area,” Sloane said.
‘The army has done this in several places in the country and they are out of sight of prying eyes. Maybe it was just time to make that testing public.”
Sloane highlighted a similar drone mystery that hit Colorado from 2019 to 2020, when swarms of aerial vehicles filled the skies like the current situation in New Jersey.
Local reports at the time suggested the drones were “a secret Air Force program designed to keep prying eyes away from nuclear missile silos” located in Cheyenne.
Air Force Global Strike Command, based in Louisiana, confirmed it is conducting counter-drone exercises from FE Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, where it is based.
The drones appeared in mid-November over the Picatinny Arsenal military base in Rockaway, which is also the site of the Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), which develops new drone technologies for the military.
The drones were described as having “flashing or steady white, red or green lights.”
The story reflects the current situation in New Jersey: Residents and local officials demanded answers.
It was also rumored that the drones were searching for missing radioactive material in Colorado, which was a theory in the Garden State.
‘I think this could (in the extreme case) be a search operation [in New Jersey]said Ridolfi.
‘An argument against this (to some extent) is that the vast majority of observations take place at night. If it were truly a national security issue, they would be working around the clock.”
Sloane said the drones being tested by a government contractor could include any type of attachment.
“There are cameras, gas detectors, radiation detectors,” he said.
The FAA’s flight restriction alert last month said the temporary ban is due to national defense and security reasons, banning other air vehicles flying within a two-mile radius and less than 2,000 feet.
However, exceptions include operations in support of national defense, law enforcement, firefighting, search and rescue, disaster relief, event support, and commercial operations with a valid statement of work.
When asked about the FAA’s restrictions on the base, an agency spokesperson said they were not aware of the warning.
Picatinny Arsenal, based in Morris County, develops advanced conventional weapons systems and munitions and has supplied Ukraine with weapons for its fight against Russia.
The White House has asserted that the drone sightings – which coincidentally began on November 18 – are not a foreign adversary, do not pose a threat and are not part of a US military operation (stock)
The Federal Aviation Administration also issued a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) around Picatinny from November 21 through December 26, restricting flights over the base for “special safety reasons.”
Morris County was also the first area to report sightings, prompting a joint letter from 21 mayors calling for statewide action. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy.
Initial sightings raised fears that foreign adversaries may be spying on Picatinny Arsenal, but the White House has assured the public that this is not the work of Russia, China or Iran.
‘I find that interesting [the drones are] using position lights,” Sloane said.
“If I was a foreign adversary trying to spy on things, I probably wouldn’t have red and green lights on my drone.”
As of December 10, Picatinny Arsenal recorded 17 confirmed and unconfirmed drone sightings over its territory since November 13.
The first ‘confirmed’ sighting was reported by security personnel and the ‘unconfirmed’ sightings were from unknown persons, including locals.
Under the terms of the contract, Robotic Research was tasked with conducting technical demonstrations of sensing technologies for autonomous unmanned systems and designing them with sensing technologies.
The program aims to improve autonomy, 3D/4D mapping, localization, target ID, tracking, collective 3D visualization, weapon system integration of unmanned autonomous systems and subsurface communications.