Mysterious drones have been reported flying over New Jersey in recent weeks, with additional reported sightings in Ohio, Virginia, Massachusetts and New York.
President-elect Donald Trump suggested the drones be shot down in a Truth Social post.
“Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!! DJT,” the post read.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) shared similar sentiments, saying the drones should be “shot down, if necessary.”
A viral video with millions of views claims to show someone in New Jersey attempting to shoot down a drone. The video shows what appears to be a drone flying through a dark neighborhood. At around five seconds into the video, it sounds like a shotgun is being cocked, then flashes of light that appear to be bullets shoot across the sky as gunfire noises go off.
The caption reads: “BREAKING: People Are Literally SHOOTING at the Drones in New Jersey Now!” A watermark on the video screen credits “DRONE HUNTER.”
THE QUESTION
Does this video show somebody shooting down a drone in New Jersey?
THE SOURCES
- Original video posted to YouTube by Robert Earl White on Dec. 4
- Original edited video posted to X by Robert Earl White on Dec. 13
- Robert Earl White on X and YouTube
- InVid and RevEye, video and photo forensics tools
THE ANSWER
No, this video doesn’t show somebody shooting down a drone in New Jersey.
WHAT WE FOUND
This video does show what appears to be a drone, or similar-sized aircraft, flying through a New Jersey neighborhood, but fake gunfire effects and audio were added to the original footage. As VERIFY has previously reported, it's a federal crime to shoot down a drone.
Using InVid, a video forensics tool, VERIFY analyzed the video and conducted a reverse image search of each frame. The original video was posted to YouTube on Dec. 4 by Robert Earl White, a New Jersey resident.
White not only filmed the unedited version of the video but also created the manipulated version with fake gunfire effects, which he posted on X on Dec. 13. When comparing the manipulated version to the original, the same street, telephone poles and white house can be seen in both videos. The original video doesn’t have the gunfire effects.
White’s X post with the edited video says, “Since the government won’t shoot down the drones in New Jersey I thought I would give it a go! Let’s go Jersey Boys, Take these things down! Yes the gun fire is fake in this video but the drone I recorded is very much real.”
White later clarified on X and YouTube that he created both versions of the video and criticized how the manipulated version was shared without context. In a YouTube video, White explained: “This all started on Dec. 4 when I actually recorded a drone flying right near my house, but that is not the video that went viral. The video that actually went viral was an edited joke that I did where I added gunshots and me shooting at this drone that was real, that I recorded. I did this after hearing the Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby talking about why they can’t shoot these things down.”
White referenced an interview Kirby gave on Fox News, in which he explained that drones shouldn’t be shot down due to public safety concerns.
On X, White wrote, “In the original video of a real drone that I recorded here in New Jersey. I edited gun fire to the video which in the original post I clearly stated they were fake but the drone was real. A bunch of accounts stole my video and shared it without the right context. The video has gotten millions of views while the original with context got none. This fully exposes how fake information gets promoted over the truth.”
Meanwhile, senior officials from the FBI, Pentagon, Federal Aviation Administration, and other agencies told the public during a Saturday briefing that the drones do not pose a national security or safety threat and are not the handiwork of malicious foreign actors.
Trump has said he believes the government knows more than it’s saying.
“Our military knows and our president knows and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense,” Trump said. He refused to say whether he had been briefed on the drone sightings.
The White House has stated that many reported sightings were actually manned aircraft operating lawfully, a conclusion supported by officials and drone experts.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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