Drone mystery deepens as New Jersey mayor shares new footage of 'glowing orbs' in the skies

A New Jersey Mayor has shared new footage of 'glowing orbs transforming into drones' over Long Island, adding more intrigue to this ongoing mystery. 

Michael Melham, the Mayor of Belleville, has been outspoken about the unexplained phenomena plaguing his state and the greater tri-state area since mid-November when the drones first appeared. 

He shared the bizarre footage on X, saying the clips 'appears to show glowing orbs turning into drones. Verified not to be planes via flight tracker. They hover. Glow. Then move.'

In a recent interview with NewsNation, Melham said he is still getting reports of drone sightings 'all over New Jersey, and even Long Island.'

'Here in New Jersey, we are about 500 mayors strong, we are still waiting for answers because our residents are still gravely concerned over what's flying just over our homes,' he said. 

In one of the videos, which appeared to have been shot with an infrared camera, a large ball of light can be seen slowly changing shape into what looks like a fixed-wing aircraft.

Another shows a bright white orb over the North Shore of Long Island, where the videographer told Melham that hundreds of drones can be seen nightly. This orb also gradually morphs into what appears to be a fixed-wing aircraft.

Melham emphasized the need for answers and expressed hope that President Donald Trump will shed light on the matter. Trump said Monday that he will 'tell the people' the truth about the drones. 

'Why don't we find out immediately,' Trump said while in the Oval Office. 'I can't imagine it's an enemy or there... people would've gotten blown up over [it].

'Maybe they were testing things. I don't know why they wouldn't have said what it was.'  

Trump had previously promised he would disclose the truth about the drones on day one of his presidency, but he has not shared any details as of yet. 

'The fact that he doesn't seem to have that many details... tells me that if he's not briefed on it yet, it's probably not a matter of national security, or certainly not an alien invasion or anything crazy like that,' Melham told NewsNation.

The mayor said it's 'more than likely' the aircraft are 'our own government or experimental drones that are up in the sky,' but added that residents are still concerned about the lack of answers from the government. 

'I do take the president at his word. I do think that we are gonna get some kind of disclosure,' he said, adding that it will 'come soon.' 

The videos Melham shared were taken by Dan Oliverio, who documents UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon) sightings through his Instagram account @OurStrangeSkies. Oliverio sent the footage directly to Melham.

Strangely, the video of the North Shore of Long Island shows a timestamp of January 28, 2025, which is six days after it was shared online by Melham. 

When asked about this, Oliverio told Melham that the incorrect timestamp was the result of faulty binoculars he used to take the video. 

Despite widespread public concern over sightings like these, the Biden administration had assured the public that the sightings were not a threat, brushing most off as hobbyist drones, commercial airplanes and even stars.

Melham is cautiously optimistic that the new administration could shed light on the mysterious aircraft, which he believes are definitely drones. 

'Our president-elect receives the same exact national intelligence briefing that our president does, so if it was a foreign adversary or something alien or extraterrestrial, I'm certain, as president-elect, he would have known,' he said. 

Some social media users who saw these videos are not convinced they are actually of orbs, drones or one morphing into the other.

'That's just a normal plane doing normal plane things,' one X user replied. 

'Its landing lights are facing the camera at first,' creating a lens flare, which is when light shone directly into a camera lens scatters and takes on an orb-like appearance.

'It then turns and the landing lights are facing away from the camera,' causing the lens flare to dissipate and allowing its true shape as a fixed-wing aircraft to become visible.

Others are still concerned that these are not 'normal' aircraft, and welcome Melham's continued push for answers. 

'You are a hero to many Michael. Thanks for doing the essential work,' one X user replied. 

New Jersey still appears to be the epicenter of drone reports following the first sightings in November, when eyewitnesses reported 'car-sized drones' flying above a military base and President Donald Trump's golf course. 

But since then, hundreds of other reports have surfaced across the Northeast and even from several southern states, including Virginia, Kentucky and the Carolinas.

In December, Trump claimed 'the government knows what is happening' when asked about bizarre phenomenon during a news conference. 

Multiple Republican lawmakers echoed this claim and put forth theories that the drones were being operated by foreign adversaries such as China, Iran or Russia, as sightings were repeatedly reported over US military bases. 

But the White House said the sightings near or over Department of Defense (DoD) installations 'are not new.' 

'DoD takes unauthorized access over its airspace seriously and coordinates closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, as appropriate,' the statement read.

The Department of Homeland Security, DoD, Federal Aviation Administration and the FBI said the sightings were 'a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.'

The UAP tracking website Enigma Labs has logged sightings as recently as January 7 in multiple Northeastern states, and their data suggests the reports have ramped up in recent weeks.

When the drones first started appearing in November, 22 people issued reports to Enigma starting on the 20th. But by December 31, that number dramatically increased to 347.

A drone ban was issued from December 18 to January 17, during which Enigma labs said the average number of reported sightings dropped by 43 percent.

Now, new data shows 36 sightings were logged the week of January 1, and nearly half were spotted in New Jersey.

Trump has yet to release the drone report he promised, and many Americans await new information about the alarming phenomenon they believe they have been experiencing.