Army contractor claims credit for New Jersey’s drone and UFO panic — a secret aircraft tested behind closed doors may hold the answer
The strange aerial sightings that rattled New Jersey skies last year may have found their explanation thanks to a dramatic disclosure at a top-tier Army unmanned systems summit. What once stoked fear of drones or alien crafts over the Garden State now appears linked to a private company’s covert flight test of a highly unusual manned aircraft.
The vehicle, revealed at the UAS and Launched Effects Summit at Fort Rucker in August 2025, featured a 20-foot wingspan and four distinct wing surfaces — a design so unfamiliar that observers described it as a “UFO” moment. According to one insider, the company behind the plane later told summoned attendees that yes, they were flying over New Jersey in November 2024 under a confidential government contract.
That aerial activity coincides with the wave of drone-like reports that began Nov. 13, 2024, near Picatinny Arsenal and spread across multiple counties. Washington federal officials initially attributed the incidents to hobbyists or manned aircraft operating lawfully, but many locals remained skeptical. At the summit demonstration, captured video showed the craft skimming the tree line, changing shape as it banked — witnesses said the motions weren’t typical of standard drones or small planes. One veteran drone expert described it as “a UFO because it defies what you’re expecting to see.”
Federal investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security later confirmed the objects seen in New Jersey were mostly manned aircraft under legitimate operation — yet the hidden-flight narrative adds a new layer of intrigue. The Pentagon declined comment, citing ongoing federal shutdown protocols, but the corporate source’s admission quietly reshapes the story. While the mystery may not involve extraterrestrials, the case raises fresh questions about transparency, aviation oversight and defense contracting in U.S. airspace. For residents of New Jersey who watched lights hover, dart and vanish, the explanation comes as relief — yet also as a shock: the “skies-mystery” over their homes was tied to a high-level military-industry test. And that craft may have been flying far closer than anyone suspected.
