Following recent reports of drones hovering over New York and New Jersey, mysterious glowing orbs have this week been seen moving in the skies above Minnesota.
Video footage uploaded by Fox News on Wednesday shows two orbs floating in the sky, eventually moving around before disappearing.
Eyewitness Deborah Wagner from Northfield, Minnesota, said in the video: "We started trying to follow them, but they won't be followed. They just, like, they disappear. Whenever anybody moves towards them, they'd back off."
Later in the video, the orbs are shown hovering with lights blinking against the night sky.
As reported by Fox News, Wagner's daughter Chrissy Graddy, who lives nearby, has also seen the lights, saying: "Are these UFOs? Are they a government thing? What are they?"
Graddy has recorded footage of the orbs on her cell phone, taken while out with her children. In the footage, her children can be heard saying: "It's really low. I'm gonna follow it! There's another one up there!"
According to the report, Graddy took the video after she and her children spotted the flashing lights, which would move away once they spotted them. They started seeing the lights over the summer and now it is a nightly occurrence.
"It obviously sees me," Graddy says in the cell phone video. "I've got to pretend like I'm driving."
"They would come and then kind of like hover. And then we would go outside and then they would leave," Graddy added.
Newsweek contacted NOAA, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz's office, and the FBI via email for comment on Friday outside of regular working hours.
As reported by Newsweek, mysterious drones were reported hovering over various parts of New York this week, as well as a swarm over New Jersey, prompting the FBI's Newark Field Office, which is leading the investigation into the sightings, to release a statement.
"We understand the concern, and we are doing all we can to figure out what's going on," a spokesperson for the FBI Newark office told PIX11 News. "We truly don't have much information to provide at the moment."
The sightings have led to speculation online and in the media, with theories ranging from the orbs being some kind of weather phenomena to more nefarious theories, including that they originated from Iran. The Pentagon has denied this.
The White House has said that the drone reports are something "the FBI and DHS is tracking very closely."
In an emailed statement to Newsweek on Friday, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA ) said:
"The FAA received reports of drone activity near Morris County, New Jersey, on Monday, Nov. 18. At the request of federal security partners, the FAA published two Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) prohibiting drone flights over Picatinny Arsenal Military Base and Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.
"Safely integrating drones into the National Airspace System is a key priority for the FAA. We look into all reports of unauthorized drone operations and investigate when appropriate.
"Drone operators who conduct unsafe operations that endanger other aircraft or people on the ground could face fines up to $75,000. In addition, we can suspend or revoke drone operators' pilot certificates.
"The agency works with federal and local law enforcement partners to educate them about how to respond to unsafe or unauthorized drone operations.
"FAA personnel in the 77 local Flight Standards District Offices (FSDO) across the country perform investigations and when necessary, take appropriate enforcement actions."
As reported by Newsweek, Robert Wheeler Jr, who is the assistant director of the FBI's critical incident response group, told Tuesday's Congressional hearing on drone threats: "We do not attribute [the sightings] to an individual or a group yet.
"We're actively investigating, enlisting the help of the interagency task force and the public."
Wheeler also said that "there is nothing that is known" that indicates the drones are a potential harm to the public.
"We just don't know, and that's the concerning part. We're actively investigating and would like to answer those questions, but I don't have a better answer."
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy commented on the situation on Monday, saying that while authorities have not identified any immediate threats, they are treating the sightings with seriousness.
"This is something we're taking deadly seriously," Murphy said during a press conference Monday, adding, "These are apparently very, as I understand it, very sophisticated. The minute you get eyes on them, they go dark."
Murphy said state and federal agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, are actively investigating. He noted that 49 sightings were reported on Sunday.
The drone sightings in New Jersey began in late November, while the New York and Minnesota sightings are more recent.
Residents have been asked to report any sightings and to share any videos or photos they may have by calling the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submitting them online at tips@fbi.gov.
13/12/24 06:24 ET: This article was updated with comment from the FAA.
About the writer
Emma Marsden is a freelance news reporter for Newsweek who has lived in the U.K and the U.S. Her interests ... Read more