The FAA announced on Thursday a 30-day ban on drones flying over 22 utility sites in New Jersey, amid increased reports of drone sightings across the country. The sites include electrical switching stations, substations, and other facilities in many populous areas of the state.
The Garden State has been awash in drone sightings recently, and the right-wing conspiracy-sphere has lit up like a Christmas tree.
“The #Drones are not gathering much information,” pathetic Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee wrote on X. “But like the Chinese spy balloon they are judging our response. It is all a test and we are failing.”
Infamous conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene, who nominally represents Georgia in the House, upped the madness.
“The government is in control of the drones and refuses to tell the American people what is going on,” she posted to X this past Saturday.
Later on Thursday, the FAA extended the temporary ban to include New York’s “critical infrastructure sites.” Gov. Kathy Hochul clarified that the move was “purely precautionary” and that “there are no threats.”
The FAA’s drone bans are the most recent move by the federal government to ameliorate a recent spike in reports of jackasses pointing lasers at airplanes, which is dangerous and illegal. The agency also previously warned citizens not to shoot at strange things in the sky, reminding citizens that it is, again, dangerous and illegal.
Four major government agencies—the FAA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Defense—released a joint statement on Tuesday saying that there are more than 1 million registered drones in the United States, including “thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones lawfully in the sky on any given day.”
The drone hysteria forced President Joe Biden to tell reporters on Tuesday that “nothing nefarious” was happening with the drones.
What is nefarious, though, is that a bunch of billionaires, alleged rapists, and general frauds are being nominated for important positions in Donald Trump’s incoming administration.
