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Mystery drones now in Mass.: Residents across the state record and report drone sightings
Multiple drones have recently been spotted in several parts of Massachusetts following similar incidents in New Jersey, New York, and other Eastern states.
Mysterious drone sightings are now happening across Massachusetts, with residents reporting the strange sight in Cape Cod, the North Shore, and Central and Western Mass.
In a video shared on X Friday night, a woman said she saw more than 25 of the drones flying overhead in Stoneham.
“Really hard to get a video of them, but just saw 25+ drones in Stoneham, MA in a timeframe of about 30 minutes. They have the distinctive flashing red and green lights and at the time of this video being taken, there were no flights anywhere around me on the Flightradar24 app,” wrote Katie Murdock.
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Harwich resident Lindsay Muto shared a video with Boston 25 News showing flying objects in the night sky. She said the incident happened on Thursday night, and there appeared to be around 15 objects that appeared to be far away but would move up and down.
“Are we safe? I mean, what’s going on? I have little kids, so it makes us nervous,” Muto told the news outlet. When asked if they could be planes, she said, “Not a chance. They were not moving like an airplane would move, and they were there for at least a half an hour. At least.”
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In recent days, residents in Springfield, Saugus, Lynn, Plainville, North Grafton, and Hopkinton reported similar sightings.
The Massachusetts sightings follow similar mystery drone sightings in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and other East Coast states in recent weeks. The FBI says thousands of people have reported the sightings, though officials have said there is no indication of a threat to public safety.
In a joint statement Thursday, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said they were working with other agencies to investigate the sightings and confirm whether the flying objects were actually drones or manned aircraft.
“We take seriously the threat that can be posed by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), which is why law enforcement and other agencies continue to support New Jersey and investigate the reports. To be clear, they have uncovered no such malicious activity or intent at this stage,” the agencies wrote in the statement.
Still, the sightings have sparked an outcry from citizens and officials seeking answers about the drones, which have been spotted near military bases.
On Saturday, the Boston Herald reported that a Weston resident emailed them claiming to have spotted five drones flying overhead Friday night. The resident described the objects as “large, very slow moving, and they had the same colors” as the ones seen in New Jersey.
“We called the Weston Police to report the drones and the dispatcher said they were already aware of them. She said they were ‘getting reports from all over,’” the person told the Herald.
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Massachusetts state police said they were aware of the sightings and were “assisting local police in monitoring the activity.”
According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), drones are legal to fly as long as they follow federal guidelines and are not in unrestricted air space.
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