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| - The video was recorded in East Hanover, New Jersey. Drone sightings were reported in New Jersey around the time the video was posted, but no sightings had been corroborated by federal, state or local authorities, according to officials.
On Dec. 12, 2024, a video (archived) circulated on X with the poster claiming it showed a drone spraying a substance in the air. The video followed weeks of reports of mysterious drone flights over New Jersey.
(X user @graffanati19)
The caption read: "From a friend in Jersey now the drones are spraying something."
The video had been viewed over two million times on X at the time of this writing.
However, we have found no proof that the video shows a drone spraying a substance. Our research found the video was recorded in East Hanover, New Jersey, likely by Instagram user @Steviecat17, who posted it on Dec. 12.
Also on Dec. 12, U.S. National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said at a news conference that federal, state and local authorities had not been able to "corroborate any of the reported visual sightings" of drones in New Jersey.
We reached out to @Steviecat17 and East Hanover Police, Fire and Emergency Management but had not heard back at the time of this writing to confirm the sighting. Therefore, we rate this claim research in progress.
Video Appears Genuine But Doubts About 'Drone'
The video, which was one of three video posts made on @Steviecat17's profile on Dec. 12, appears genuine — meaning not edited or produced using AI.
The video was recorded at a private address in East Hanover, New Jersey, verified by Snopes but kept out of this reporting for the privacy of the
The @Steviecat17 profile on Instagram appears genuine, with posts on other topics dating back several years. The profile also follows the Instagram profile @anthony_graffeo17, whose X equivalent posted the video, saying it was from a friend.
The @anthony_graffeo17 profile follows the @Steviecat17 profile with the comment, "Yoooo send me this" on one of the postings.
However, Snopes was not able to verify that the video shows a drone.
At the aforementioned news conference, Kirby told journalists that reported "drone" sightings posed no "national security or public safety threat," and that no federal, state or local law enforcement authorities had been able to "corroborate any of the reported visual sightings," instead finding that many of them were "manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully." Below are some of his comments:
Now, finally, I just want to add a few comments on the reports of drone activity here on the East Coast, particularly in and around New Jersey.
We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating these sightings, and they're working closely with state and local law enforcement to provide resources, using numerous detection methods to better understand their origin.
Using very sophisticated electronic detection technologies provided by federal authorities, we have not been able to — and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities — corroborate any of the reported visual sightings.
To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully.
The United States Coast Guard is providing support to the State of New Jersey and has confirmed that there is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement from coastal vessels.
And, importantly, there are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace.
Snopes was unable to verify that the video shows a drone.
It is worth noting that on Dec. 13, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey posted on X that he had been out with local law enforcement overnight and had seen what he and they believed to be drones flying in the sky over Round Valley Reservoir, around 30 miles from East Hanover. These sightings were not publicly confirmed by the FBI, the agency East Hanover Police Department said on Dec. 5 was handling reported sightings.
Doubts also exist about the "spray" part of the claim. Community notes on X indicate that what the video recorder was seeing could be contrails: long, thin clouds created by the passage of airplanes, according to Space.com.
Looking at the video, it is also unclear whether the "drone" is emitting the lines seen in the sky or happened to be in alignment with an existing line at the time the video was taken. Screenshots from the video (below) show that the "drone" moves further away from the line seen in the sky as the video goes on without extending the trail.
(X user @graffanati19/Text added in Canva)
Snopes recently reported on a fake image claiming to show a drone flying at low altitude in New Jersey.
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