Mysterious drones have been spotted and reported in New Jersey and other states across the U.S., according to the Associated Press. Authorities further say they don’t know who is commanding these drones, per the same report from the AP, but many of the sightings have included commercially operated drones, aircrafts, and even stars mistaken for drones.

Drones are cultural symbols of surveillance, able to photograph and monitor large swathes of land. To see multiple of these devices hovering over one’s state, then, is obvious cause for concern, especially given the continual mystery surrounding their origins. According to a report from The Free Press, these strange drones arrive from the ocean around sundown and sometimes go dark once they get to shore. Understandably, residents are demanding some answers.

Madeleine Kearns, in The Free Press, notes that one theory involves Iran, since one of their ships is missing from port. Given the recent unrest and violence in the Middle East and Iran’s longstanding hostility towards the United States, this could be a possibility. Others say it could be China. Concerns over surveillance and privacy surfaced in early 2023 when a high-altitude Chinese balloon satellite journeyed across the United States. It was later shot down over the Atlantic Ocean. So, it wouldn’t be a total surprise if China was again trying to spy on democracy’s mainland.

Fox News interviewed a military expert recently who said he believes the drones have originated from within the United States. Furthermore, President-elect Donald Trump posted online that he believes Biden and government officials know more about the drones than they are letting on to the public.

While the New Jersey governor and other authorities claim these drones don’t pose a security threat, it’s not clear how they can confidently say that when they know nothing about the drones in the first place. Dismissing foreign interference, particularly given the state of global affairs, seems to be premature at best. These drones are suspicious, with some of them being reported as being the size of SUVs.

The longer the drones remain a mystery, the more prone the story will be to civilian speculation, and nothing makes better fodder for conspiracy than creepy drones buzzing over your house in the middle of the night. It’s more than enough to stoke some fear. In a world where everything can be monitored, filmed, and shared, the public deserves an answer about what these drones are doing and where they came from. Otherwise, people very well may take matters into their own hands and start gunning them down themselves. Are we to assume these drones are alien emissaries come to spy our bountiful east coast?

New York Post has been closely monitoring and updating the drone story. Finally, the FBI is starting to investigate, and we will hopefully get a transparent answer (something more than “We don’t know”) about the origin of the drones in the coming days.