Tucker Carlson has made a shocking claim about the mysterious drones that plagued New Jersey for more than a month, saying they were controlled by a Chinese mothership satellite.
The first sightings appeared in November over the Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway and newly elected President Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, followed by thousands more in the sky.
While the US government claimed they were foreign adversaries, Carlson claimed he was told otherwise.
He said that “an intelligence person” told him that the drones “were in fact Chinese,” explaining that the U.S. government had downed a Chinese satellite “that was a command and control satellite for these drones.”
Carlson appeared to be alluding to a Beijing-operated satellite known as GaoJing 1-02, which fell from space on December 21.
Astronomers monitoring such devices confirmed that the Chinese satellite re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere above New Orleans and moved north toward Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri before burning up in the atmosphere.
But Carlson claimed it was “removed by the US government.”
He made these claims during a conversation with independent journalist Michael Shellenberger, who heard a similar explanation for the drones.
“Someone told me the military got one of the orbs, opened it up and it was Chinese,” Shellenberger said.
Tucker Carlson discussed the mysterious drones on his show this week and said he was told the objects were under the control of China
The White House has repeatedly stated 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.
The GaoJing 1-02 is described as a high-resolution imaging device used for mapping parts of the Earth.
Dr. Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard and Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, wrote on Bluesky that the satellite “has been space junk and dead as a doornail since January 2023.”
However, the European Space Agency EoPortal shows GaoJing 1-02’s mission status as ‘Operational (nominal). That means the satellite was still working when it fell from the sky, consistent with Carlson’s statements.
Shellenberger told Carlson that he had “interviewed a number of people” in New Jersey when drones filled the sky.
Around that time, he heard Defense Department spokesman John Kirby and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas say, “We are absolutely not getting any drones over the military bases or other sensitive locations.”
“I thought, why would you lie about that,” Shellenberger told Carlson.
The first drone spotted in New Jersey was over Picatinny Arsenal, and on December 13, Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County reported seeing similar aerial vehicles.
Carlson did not provide any details about the object. The Beijing-operated GaoJing 1-02 satellite fell from space on December 21 (photo). It reentered the Earth’s atmosphere over New Orleans and headed north toward Mississippi, Arkansas, and Missouri.
Carlson made these claims while speaking to independent journalist Michael Shellenberger (pictured), who heard a similar explanation for the drones
Drones were also spotted in December over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio and Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth in Texas
The White House has repeatedly stated 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 Carlson said his inside source told him that “it was believed the Chinese government was sending the following message: ‘We are moving on to Taiwan.’
Shellenberger said that if the orb was Chinese, “someone has mastered anti-gravity.”
‘That’s almost harder for me to believe than it is about non-human intelligence [NHI]’ he added.
Anti-gravity technology refers to the idea of creating a force that counteracts gravity, allowing objects to float or move without being pulled down by Earth’s gravity. It has become the holy grail for armies around the world.
Although the idea doesn’t seem possible to Shellenberger, he told Joe Rogan in October that the U.S. military has mastered “alien” anti-gravity technology.
Shellenberger told Rogan that he had spoken to insiders with “direct evidence” about the Pentagon’s long-rumored “crash retrieval” and “reverse engineering” programs.
The Biden administration has dismissed any speculation about threats, but even lawmakers suggested the federal government was lying to the American people.
A Harvard scientist posted online that the Chinese satellite was shut down in 2023, but the European Space Agency website shows it was in use as of June 2024.
Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said in mid-December that he believes some of the unidentified aircraft are “spy drones” from China, after it emerged that the communist state had seized strategically located farmland next to military installations in the US.
“I believe they are spy drones and the [People’s Republic of China] and communist China is very good at this kind of thing. We know they bought land around military bases. This would be very consistent with their policies in recent years,” he said.
“We’re not getting any answers and I think it’s because our government doesn’t know who is behind it and I find that very disturbing.”
President-elect Donald Trump said last week he would reveal the truth about the drones over New Jersey.
“I’m going to give you a report on drones about a day into the administration because I think it’s ridiculous that they’re not telling you what’s going on with the drones,” Trump responded.
He further predicted that it ‘could be’ [the U.S.]’ that is sending the drones, which he ‘hopes is the cause’ and ‘not an enemy’.