Unidentified Drone, Aerial Sightings Continue After Spike In Nationwide Reports

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Authored by Allan Stein via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

SEDONA, Ariz.—Mike O’Sedona stood out as a dark silhouette in a snap-brim hat against the purple twilight sky, staring at the stunning conjunction of the crescent moon and Venus.

“There’s the Dog Star, Sirius. There’s Rigel, and there’s Orion—along with the belt,” O’Sedona said as his finger moved among the stars and constellations.

On the eve of Jan. 31, he led a small group of curious visitors on a 90-minute crash course in astronomy while searching for satellites, drones, spacecraft, and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).

The goal was to learn how to navigate the night sky and identify celestial and man-made objects while examining anomalies with a healthy dose of skepticism.

The tool they used consists of night vision goggles designed by O’Sedona that enhance ambient light by a factor of one thousand. 

“There’s a spaceship about 850 miles [up],” he said, peering through his night vision scope. He recognized the object by its relative speed and path.

“That’s your weather satellite right there. I’m going to try to find a [communications] satellite in a minute,” he said.

What was once invisible to the naked eye can now be observed through a bright, glowing green field in the viewfinder.

And there was much to see that night under the celestial dome over Sedona Airport in central Arizona.

“Okay. See this guy right here? He pulsed. Let’s see if he pulses again,” O’Sedona said. “These guys—they are cruising. They’re spacecraft. Now, there’s an airplane.”

“This is going on 24/7, guys. Our [U.S.] Space Force stuff is pretty heavy.”

Since 2018, O’Sedona, owner of Arizona UFO Tours, has guided groups on nighttime adventures, aiming to spot elusive and difficult-to-explain “exotic” objects.

About four years ago, he remembered seeing a peculiar ball of red light moving at a low altitude near Thunder Mountain, one of the highest peaks in Sedona.

“It couldn’t have been a falling star because it was below the mountaintop—no trail, just a red ball,” he said.

It has been about 13 months since O’Sedona last saw an exotic object, and tonight, he and his three customers are hopeful.

Rampant Drone Sightings

When the conversation turned to the recent mass sightings of drones across the country, O’Sedona, a retired missile engineer from the Department of Defense, shared his opinion.

“The drones are not a theory,” he said.

He believes they are government aircraft used for intelligence gathering. They are searching for something—but what that something is remains a mystery.

“What the drones are doing is what I like to call ‘fishing,’” O’Sedona said. 

In November, widespread reports of drone sightings began emerging from at least six states, including heavily populated areas in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. 

In response, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) implemented temporary flight restrictions at key locations, such as Cape Canaveral in Florida, Libby Air Force Base in Arizona, and other military installations.

“Generally speaking, it is legal to fly a drone in most locations if you’re operating under 400 feet, but there are rules—including safety tests, keeping below 400 feet, keeping the drone in sight, avoiding all other aircraft, not causing a hazard to any people or property, and avoiding restricted airspace,” the FAA told The Epoch Times in an email.

By December, the FAA reported there were more than 1 million registered drones in the United States. Of these, 409,408 were registered for commercial use, while 385,892 were registered for recreational purposes.

The former Biden administration stated that the drones were not of foreign origin or harmful to the public.

President-elect Donald Trump previously promised to improve transparency regarding the drone sightings once he took office on Jan. 20. 

During her first media briefing on Jan. 28, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the mysterious drones spotted along the East Coast were authorized FAA drones.

“After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,” she said.

“Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones.

“In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.”

There’s An App for That

Enigma Labs, a New York City-based company founded in 2020, has launched a new iPhone platform that allows users to track sightings of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). An Android version of the app will be released soon.

Currently, the private startup has about 200,000 users who report sightings in real-time using the application.

The company utilizes advanced artificial intelligence and sensor fusion to accurately identify and confirm events, as stated on the company’s website.

“People are seeing objects every single day and reporting them to us. They’re sending us videos, and they’re sending us photographs,” Enigma Labs spokesperson Christine Kim told The Epoch Times.

Beginning in mid-November, Enigma Labs said mysterious unidentified aircraft were first reported across the tri-state region. Many sightings occurred near sensitive areas such as military bases, involving “swarms of objects, and prolonged hovering raised public and official concern.”

“The FAA implemented flight restrictions, local senators called for a state of emergency, and [Connecticut] authorities continue to investigate,” according to Enigma Labs. 

“The persistent incursions and lack of clear communication drove a wave of public speculation, including fears of foreign drones or loose nuclear material.”

From Nov. 20 to Jan. 27, Enigma Labs received and approved a total of 520 reports in the Northeast and 480 reports in the tri-state area. The Enigma app sent out 12,000 notifications, which helped drive more skywatchers to focus on the hotspots.

Enigma Labs categorized the surge in sightings based on their characteristics, behavior, and group incursions.

The ground-reported data revealed that 16 percent of the objects were described as “exceptionally large.” 

Additionally, 63 percent of approved reports noted unusual light patterns, while 14 percent described common shapes, including triangles.

“Forty percent of reports actually mentioned drones and drone-like behavior, and many reported the objects moving in strange patterns,” Enigma Labs wrote. 

“Fifty-four percent of reports described the object as ‘hovering’ or staying airborne for extended periods of time beyond the capability of a hobbyist drone.”

Twenty-five percent of reports described objects moving in “swarms” of five or more; 13 percent of Enigma app users reported more than 10 objects. 

Also of interest, Engima Labs said 364 reports were within 25 miles of military sites, such as Picatinny Arsenal and the Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey.

“Though there is no consistent pattern, several witnesses reported objects on the coast, several mentioned objects coming from the ocean and flying inland,” Enigma Labs said.

In Arizona, users of the Enigma app have reported hundreds of sightings: Tucson recorded 884 sightings, followed by Yuma with 155, Flagstaff with 137, Kingman with 130, and Prescott with 107.

Kim estimates that Enigma Labs has received a total of 32,000 reported sightings through the app, and these sightings continue despite a decrease in media coverage. In December, she said, around 2,500 sightings were reported via the app.

Sightings Continue

“We ask a lot of structured data questions because we believe that to study UAPs scientifically, we need the right data,” Kim said.

“What’s surprising is January was actually one of our highest months, excluding December, where we’re now approaching 2,000 sightings. January is on track to being one of our highest submissions in two months.

“We’re largely neutral on the origins. There are a lot of theories out there on what they could be.”

Adding credibility to reported sightings, Kim said many users of the Enigma app are scientists, veterans, and professional skywatchers, so they are always “looking up.”

“We really prize those submissions. They really have expertise,” she said.

Kim said that approximately 60 percent of reported sightings deserve further investigation.

“It’s definitely worthy of investigation. I think there’s a lot of frustration,” Kim said. “What are these drones? Are people doing anything about it? How can we find patterns?”

Kim said not all of them are unusual. “There are a lot of objects in the air—satellites and planets that people think are UAPs.”

Regardless of the origins of drones or UAPs, Congress has demonstrated increasing interest in these sightings and has held hearings on the topic. 

Federal officials and lawmakers have also instructed the military and intelligence agencies to provide updates.

In 2022, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, or NASA, launched the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Study Team, which includes a panel of 16 experts tasked with exploring the nature and root source of UAPs.

‘Red Rock’ Community

Each year, around 3 million people visit Sedona, a city with a population of 9,819. It is well-known for its unexplained aerial sightings, alleged energy vortexes attributed to the high magnetic properties of its iron-rich rock, and various sites of New Age spiritual interest.

“What we have is a dark sky community that allows these goggles to see things you couldn’t see in most places,” O’Sedona said.

He urged his three visitors to stay skeptical but open-minded about the objects flying across the night sky.

“I don’t expect you to believe every word I say because the word ‘believe’ uses the word ‘lie’ right in the middle of it,” O’Sedona said. 

“On the other hand, I do not exaggerate. I don’t use hyperbole.”

O’Sedona said it’s important to use common sense when talking about unidentified aerial sightings.

“You’ve got to have common sense. In the ‘50s it was common. Not so much now,” he said.