AARO Provides Classified Briefing to Lawmakers Amid New Jersey Mystery Drone Incursions
Beginning in mid-November 2024, a sustained wave of unidentified drone sightings over New Jersey — concentrated around Morris County, Picatinny Arsenal, and Naval Weapons Station Earle — prompted responses from local, state, and federal officials. By early December the sightings had spread to at least ten New Jersey counties as well as Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, with additional parallel incidents reported over RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Feltwell, and RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom in late November. On December 6, 2024, the DoD's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) delivered a classified briefing to lawmakers; the specific content of that briefing regarding the drone sightings was not publicly disclosed. The episode is notable for the formal involvement of AARO — the DoD's official office for unidentified anomalous phenomena — in what is primarily a domestic drone-security matter. AARO Director Dr. Jon Kosloski had previously told lawmakers during a Senate hearing that while his office is not directly tasked with drone investigations, AARO's detection capabilities and best practices could be offered to counter-UAS efforts. The incident underscores growing congressional and executive-branch concern about unidentified unmanned aerial systems over sensitive military and civilian infrastructure.