Unidentified drones return over New Jersey and New York after FAA lifts ban

The mysterious large-sized drones are back over New Jersey and New York after Federal Aviation Administration lifted the ban . Additionally, these unidentified unmanned aerial vehicles are now being spotted beyond the New York and New Jersey regions.
"We've received over 100 reports in the past three weeks that mention drones across the US," said Enigma Labs spokesperson Christine Kim, referencing their user-submitted data.
"We created our live active drone map in December to help the public and investigators track drone sightings in the tri-state," he added.
According to Kim, New Jersey continues to be a centre of drone observations. The New York-based organisation's iPhone application and interactive map, which documents "unidentified anomalous phenomena", has collected 22,000 sightings in 2024, predominantly in the Northeast region.
"We've been getting more and more reports, including a surge of them last week," Kim said, with 28 reports, including an account of a hovering, colour-changing object over Hoboken on January 14.
Enigma Labs collects data through user submissions and initiated tracking when unidentified aerial objects sparked concern and distress across New Jersey and other parts of the country in late November.
The organisation has accumulated 650 drone sighting reports across the United States, with 154 occurrences documented in January, including recent observations in Hoboken and Stockton, N.J.
According to Enigma's data, more than half of the submitted reports described the objects as "hovering" or maintaining prolonged aerial presence, whilst 25% noted multiple objects operating in groups of five or more.
Following the FAA flight restrictions implemented on December 18, Kim noted a 43% decrease in reported sightings.
Enigma received approximately 50 sighting reports on December 18. The number drastically reduced to four reports in the following week.
After the restrictions were removed on January 17, Enigma has documented 22 new sighting reports.
The organisation's January records show more than 150 reported sightings in total.
In December, federal authorities dismissed these observations, attributing them to misidentified aircraft approaching local airports.