Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Something's going on in the night sky in New Jersey, where I live: People keep reporting squadrons of drones flying around in the dark over their houses. And at this point I'm going to cut right to the chase and cede the floor to Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a dentist who was elected to Congress in 2018 as a Democrat but is now, somehow, a MAGA Trump supporter. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican, said the drones "very possibly could be" from Iran, citing confidential sources during an appearance on Fox News Wednesday morning. "I'm going to tell you the real deal. Iran launched a mothership that contains these drones," Van Drew said.

Mysterious drones have been swarming the night skies above New Jersey and other nearby states for a month. They've been spotted over several US military sites. They've been videoed over houses and apartment buildings. A swarm was seen following a US Coast Guard rescue boat at the same time that New Jersey police reported 50 drones arriving on land from the ocean. But no one seems to know who's piloting them, or whether it's a coordinated effort.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., responds to high-ranking officials who have dismissed his previous claim that'reliable' sources said mystery drones flying over New Jersey originated from an Iranian mothership. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., fired back after high-ranking officials dismissed claims he gathered from "very qualified" and "reliable" sources linking mystery drones flying over New Jersey airspace to an Iranian "mothership" parked off the U.S. East Coast. "They've been incredibly stupid and incredibly weak with this," Van Drew said Thursday on "America's Newsroom." "We know they're not backyard drones that some hobbyist is using because they're much more sophisticated than that. We know that they're not a commercial company within the United States because we don't even have this level of sophistication yet. We are a full decade behind where China is with drones. The government claims it's not them. They say it's not them, so who is it?"

House Speaker Mike Johnson tells Fox News' Chad Pergram he is getting a classified briefing on mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey. House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News he is getting a "classified briefing" Thursday in Washington on the mysterious drones that are being spotted flying across New Jersey. The Louisiana Republican, speaking to Fox News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram, called the situation a "quandary." "I'm going to try to go get a classified briefing to see what we know, but the hearings have not yielded much yet," Johnson said. NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR SAYS FEDS HAVE AUTHORITY TO SHOOT DOWN DRONES, 'WOULDN'T BE OPPOSED' TO THEM PLAYING'MORE ROBUST ROLE' Multiple drones are seen over Bernardsville, N.J., on Dec. 5. (Brian Glenn/TMX/AP) So I'm anxious to find out," Johnson responded. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy recently told WNYC that his state government is running down every theory of what the source of the drones could be. "I'm relying overwhelmingly on the experts in the federal government who do this for a living.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli says there's no reason why the feds shouldn't be able to identify the source of the drones flying over the Garden State as residents grow more fearful. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy says the federal government has the authority to shoot down the mysterious drones spotted flying over his state and that he "wouldn't be opposed" to them playing a "more robust role" in the matter. Murphy made the remark during an interview with WNYC as the public and lawmakers remain baffled over the source of the large drones. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., told Fox News this week that a Coast Guard commander said "one of their 47-foot vessels, boats, was trailed very closely by more than a dozen of these drones." When the interviewer suggested whether one of the drones could be shot down so officials could get a closer look, Murphy said: "The feds have that authority, and I'd like to see them play a more robust role. I wouldn't be opposed to that. Let me put it that way." "I want folks out there to know -- listen, you're frustrated. But... we're going to stay at it, I promise you, this is our top priority. But based on everything we know, we don't see any evidence of a risk to public safety. And clearly, and that's largely based on the feds input. If that changes, we will shout it from the mountaintop," Murphy also said.

The night skies over New Jersey have come alight as dozens of mystery drones have been spotted flying over the state, including near United States President-elect Donald Trump's golf course in the town of Bedminster. The drones, which some residents say appear larger than hobbyist drones – those used for recreational purposes – have been spotted almost every night flying over the northeastern US state since November 18 and were initially sighted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a US military research and manufacturing facility. So, who is flying these drones and what are they doing above New Jersey? In a post on Facebook on December 4, cautioning residents of Florham Park, a borough in New Jersey, about the drones, chief of police Joseph Orlando wrote: "Over the past two weeks, the (drone) sightings have been occurring nightly…beginning just after sunset and lasting well into the early morning hours." He described the appearance of the drones as "nefarious in nature".

New Jersey State Senator Jon Bramnick joins'America Reports' to discuss recent mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey. A New Jersey state senator is calling on the Department of Defense to investigate the recent mysterious nighttime drone sightings amid rising public frustration over a lack of answers. "Let me be clear: The state police, this is way beyond their expertise … We know the Department of Defense has the technology to monitor these drones," State Sen. Jon Bramnick, R-N.J., told co-anchor John Roberts Wednesday on "America Reports." "The problem is we don't have the Department of Defense in New Jersey at this time. And that's what I call for. Until the Department of Defense comes in, shuts down airspace completely to drones, do a limited state of emergency – no drones in the sky until we figure out what's going on here," Bramnick warned.

Fox News host Sean Hannity shares his take on the mystery drone sightings in New Jersey and parts of the northeast.

An Israeli attack on Palestinian security guards escorting a humanitarian aid shipment in the Gaza Strip has killed at least 12 people and injured dozens, Al Jazeera Arabic's correspondents on the ground and news agencies report. Medics and local residents told the Reuters news agency that at least 30 people were injured, including several in critical condition, following the Israeli attack on Thursday that targeted civilian guards tasked with securing the aid convoy in the southern part of the war-torn enclave. A video clip shared by local Palestinian media in Gaza showed bodies stacked in a morgue that were reported to be the aid convoy's security personnel who were targeted west of Khan Younis. The attack is only the latest by Israeli forces on humanitarian aid workers, convoys and those trying to assist the safe entry of food and other supplies into war-torn Gaza, which is gripped by food shortages and fears of famine in the north of the territory, where an Israeli military ground operation and siege have been ongoing for several weeks. On Sunday night, at least 10 Palestinian people were killed while lining up to buy flour in an Israeli attack on Rafah, which is also in the south of the Gaza Strip.

Vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are versatile platforms widely used in applications such as surveillance, search and rescue, and urban air mobility. Despite their potential, the critical phases of take-off and landing in uncertain and dynamic environments pose significant safety challenges due to environmental uncertainties, sensor noise, and system-level interactions. This paper presents an integrated approach combining vision-based sensor fusion with System-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) to enhance the safety and robustness of VTOL UAV operations during take-off and landing. By incorporating fiducial markers, such as AprilTags, into the control architecture, and performing comprehensive hazard analysis, we identify unsafe control actions and propose mitigation strategies. Key contributions include developing the control structure with vision system capable of identifying a fiducial marker, multirotor controller and corresponding unsafe control actions and mitigation strategies. The proposed solution is expected to improve the reliability and safety of VTOL UAV operations, paving the way for resilient autonomous systems.