A statement from Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that, “especially since [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine, we have seen that drones are being used more and more frequently, which poses an increasing challenge for the police and their current technology”.

Russia is suspected of launching a “shadow war” against Western countries supporting Ukraine – a charge it denies.

This has included alleged attempts to blow up international airliners, attack infrastructure – or interfere with democratic elections.

“I can only confirm that Russia planned acts of air terror, not just against Poland but against airlines across the globe,” Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Wednesday.

He did not give any details, but his statement appeared to be confirmation of a New York Times report that US President Joe Biden had warned Putin over the alleged plans.

In November, Polish prosecutors said a series of parcel fires targeting courier companies in Europe were dry runs by groups aiming to sabotaging flights to the US and Canada.

Tusk was hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Warsaw, a day after Nato announced a new mission to increase the surveillance of ships in the Baltic Sea after critical undersea cables were damaged or severed last year.

Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Mystery fires were Russian ‘test runs’ to target cargo flights to US

Nato launches new mission to protect crucial undersea cables

There have been several instances of unidentified drones flying over military bases recently.

At least 10 such drones had been seen flying above Manching Air Base near the city of Ingolstadt on Sunday evening, German police said.

Last month, there were sightings at Manching and nearby Neuburg an der Donau.

Drones were also spotted at the US air base at Ramstein and at an industrial zone near it in the North Sea.

In her statement, Interior Minister Faeser said “espionage or sabotage are regularly considered as a possible reason”.

Under the current rules, the German Army can only help police to force drones to move away or to land – but also to fire warning shots to make this happen.

Under the new proposals – which still need parliamentary approval – soldiers may shoot a drone down if they think that is the only way to deal with the danger it poses “against the lives of people or against a critical facility”.

In November, Polish prosecutors said that a series of parcel fires targeting courier companies in Poland, Germany and the UK were dry runs aimed at sabotaging flights to the US and Canada.

Western security officials believe that they were part of an orchestrated campaign by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU.

Russia denies being behind acts of sabotage.

But it is suspected to have been behind other attacks on warehouses and railway networks in EU member states this year, including in Sweden and in the Czech Republic.

Pilots operating in restricted zones risk being intercepted and detained by law enforcement, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.

The move comes after weeks of mysterious drones sightings across New Jersey and other states, leading to concern from residents and prompting a number of conspiracy theories online about foreign involvement.

Authorities have not given many definitive answers, but President Joe Biden said the drone sightings were “nothing nefarious”.

The order says no unmanned aircraft can operate below 400 feet, the maximum altitude for recreational drone operations under FAA rules.

Several of the restricted zones are around infrastructure, like power substations. Others cover areas like port and airspace around military installations, or airports.

The FAA says a handful of agencies, such as law enforcement and disaster response missions, are not included in the restrictions.

Some commercial drone operations will be permitted under the restrictions, but operators will need a valid statement of work and an approved special governmental interest airspace waiver.

For weeks, Americans have been reporting drones flying near American military bases, close to coastlines and around US infrastructure.

The Pentagon earlier denied the suggestion of one New Jersey lawmaker that the possible drones came specifically from an Iranian “mothership”, while an FBI official said there may have been “a slight overreaction” on the topic.

“We’re following this closely, but so far, no sense of danger,” President Biden said on Wednesday.Following a US House Intelligence Committee closed-door briefing on Tuesday, members of congress tried to reassure the same.

The “vast majority” of sightings were normal aircraft or drones being operated lawfully, Connecticut Representative Jim Himes said.

As the mystery persists, state governments are calling for more power to deal with the small, uncrewed aircraft being spotted in the skies. Earlier this week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said officials were sending her a drone detection system.

Among those who have voiced their suspicions are President-elect Donald Trump, who has said the government “knows what it happening”, but “for some reason they don’t want to comment”. However, he said he “can’t imagine it’s the enemy”.

The sightings in recent weeks have occurred in New Jersey and a number of neighbouring states, sometimes around air bases. The phenomenon has prompted a number of conspiracy theories about foreign involvement.

Authorities have not given many definitive answers, other than to say the sightings are not always of drones, and that they do not believe there is a threat to national security or that a foreign power is at work.

Members of the US House Intelligence Committee, who were given a closed-door briefing on Tuesday, joined Biden on Wednesday in trying to reassure the public.

Among the committee members who spoke to reporters afterwards were Chrissy Houlahan, a Democrat.

“To date, they haven’t found anything that would indicate that there’s foreign influence, foreign actors, or even little green men who are working on the American people,” she was quoted as saying by The Hill.

In his own comments to the media, Biden said: “We’re following this closely, but so far, no sense of danger.”He stressed that the sightings were not evidence of any wrongdoing. “There’s a lot of drones authorised up there,” he said. “I think one started it and they all – everybody wanted to get in the deal.”

In recent days, the sightings have led to the temporary closures of a Stewart International Airport in New York and of Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Government agencies previously said they had “not identified anything anomalous”. They agreed with Biden that many drones that had been sighted were lawfully flown by hobbyists and law enforcement – adding that people were also spotting “manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones”.

But questions from the public remain. Earlier in the week, New Jersey man Noel Thomas described to the BBC his experience of spotting a mystery object in the sky. He said it was the size of a school bus, rectangular with blinking lights, and “definitely something I’ve never seen”.

A police officer in the same state said: “We’re just looking for some sound, reasonable answers so that people could go about their life and not live in this hysteria that we have going.”

As the mystery persists, state governments are calling for more power to deal with the small, uncrewed aircraft being spotted in the skies. Earlier this week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said officials were sending her a drone detection system.

Among those who have voiced their suspicions are President-elect Donald Trump, who has said the government “knows what it happening”, but “for some reason they don’t want to comment”. However, he said he “can’t imagine it’s the enemy”.

The Pentagon earlier denied the suggestion of one New Jersey lawmaker that the possible drones came specifically from an Iranian “mothership”, while an FBI official said there may have been “a slight overreaction” on the topic.

Robert Duffy, 42, and Jeremy Folcik, 32, were arrested on Long Island, part of the Boston Harbor Islands, on Saturday night.

They were charged with trespassing and police said they may face further counts and fines over the drones, which were “dangerously close” to Logan International Airport.

Their arrests follow a series of drone sightings across the US north-east in recent weeks. Police have given no indication that the sightings are connected to these arrests.

Police said the incident in Boston occurred at 16:30 local time (21:30 GMT) on Saturday when a police officer detected a drone operating “dangerously close” to Logan International Airport.

Police said they identified the drone’s location and tracked the operators’ position to a decommissioned health campus on Long Island. Because of the drone’s proximity to an airport, FBI counter-terrorism agents helped the investigation.

When officers arrived on the scene, police said three people attempted to flee, two of whom – Mr Duffy and Mr Folcik – were apprehended. A drone was discovered in a backpack carried by Mr Duffy, police said.

The third suspect is believed to have fled the island in a small vessel and has not so far been found.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr Duffy and Mr Folcik had legal representation. Police said they were yet to be arraigned.US government officials have been seeking to reassure residents of the north-east that no national or public security threats have been identified in the hundreds of drone sightings.

Flying objects have been reported in states including New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Massachusetts, but most of the sightings have been in New Jersey.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC News on Sunday the federal government was working in “close co-ordination” with state and local authorities on the issue.

He said it was “critical” they be given the ability to counter drone activity under federal supervision.

Mayorkas said the rise in drone sightings could be down to a change in federal law last year that allows the aircraft to be flown at night.

“That may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before, especially from dawn to dusk,” he said.

He also said he knew of “no foreign involvement” in drone sightings around the US north-east.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has called for Congress to grant states more powers to tackle the drones, which forced runways at Stewart Airfield in the state to shut down for about an hour on Friday night.

She said on Sunday that federal officials were sending a drone detection system to New York.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has requested that the technology also be sent to New Jersey.

US authorities have been unable to provide definitive answers, saying only that the objects are not believed to pose a danger to the public or national security.

On Thursday, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters that available images suggested that many of the reported drone sightings were actually manned aircraft.

But some lawmakers have criticised the government’s handling of the drones and the lack of information available to the public.

Here’s what we know.

Dozens of drone sightings have been reported over New Jersey since 18 November, according to local authorities.

The drones were initially spotted near the Raritan river, a waterway which feeds into the Round Valley Reservoir – the largest in New Jersey, the Associated Press reported.

The sightings soon spread to other parts of the state, including New Jersey’s coast.

Some of the flights were spotted near Picatinny Arsenal – a sensitive military research facility – as well as near President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in the town of Bedminster, New Jersey.

In nearby New York City, several drones were reported flying over the Bronx on 12 December, a police official told CBS News.

Officers who responded to the incident saw the drones flying overhead, but they disappeared soon afterwards.

Drones have also been reported in other parts of the state, according to New York State Police.

Police in Connecticut have also confirmed that “suspicious drone activity” has taken place in various parts of the state. A drone detection system has been deployed around the towns of Groton and New London.

In Maryland, former Republican Governor Larry Hogan claimed he saw what appeared to be “dozens” of drones over his residence in Davidsonville, about 25 miles (40km) from Washington DC.

“Like many who have observed these drones, I do not know if this increasing activity over our skies is a threat to public safety or national security,” he wrote on X. “But the public is growing increasingly concerned and frustrated with the complete lack of transparency and the dismissive attitude of the federal government.”

In late November, the United States Air Force also confirmed that unidentified drones were spotted over three US airbases in the UK: RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk.

UK defence sources told the BBC that suspicion had fallen on a “state actor” being responsible for the incursions.

In October, the Wall Street Journal also reported that mysterious drones were seen for 17 days near US military facilities in Virginia.

In a call with reporters, officials from several US agencies attempted to assure people that the drones were not the work of a foreign actor or a national security threat.

“I think there has been a slight overreaction” an official from the FBI said.

While downplaying public concern, the authorities were keen to reiterate that investigations into the drone sightings were still underway.

“We certainly understand why people are concerned. That’s one of the reasons we’re devoting significant resources,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said.

“At the same time, it’s important to understand that we don’t have any current evidence that there’s a threat to public safety” the DHS added.

Both federal and state authorities have said that they do not believe the drones are dangerous or pose a threat to US national security.

Following a briefing with the Department of Homeland Security on 11 December, New Jersey assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia said the drones appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio.

Fantasia said the drones are up to 6ft (1.8m) in diameter, travel with lights turned off and “operate in a co-ordinated manner”.

Her comments stand in stark contrast to the White House, which has suggested that these are “manned aircraft”.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security also said that the majority of sightings appear to be lawful, manned flights.

None have been reported in restricted airspace, the statement added.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a statement on Friday saying more and more people are using drones, meaning more people are noticing them in the sky.

It added that while drones can be flown in most locations below 400ft (121m), drones can’t be flown within controlled airspace around an airport without FAA authorisation; over designated, national security-sensitive facilities; in certain military bases, infrastructure and national landmarks; and in airspace covered by temporary flight restrictions.

If the objects are confirmed to be drones – which at this point is unconfirmed – it is unclear who might be operating them.

Citing anonymous “high sources”, New Jersey Republican representative Jeff Van Drew said that they were coming from an Iranian “mothership” in the Atlantic.

The Pentagon swiftly dismissed the comment, saying “there is no truth to that”.

“There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States,” deputy spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.

Another lawmaker, Illinois Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi – who is on a congressional committee that looks at China’s Communist Party – told media outlet NewsNation that there is a “non-trivial” chance that China could be involved.

“It’s definitely a possibility and the likelihood that they can then access data that is collected by these drones is very high,” he said.

The Pentagon and White House have both insisted that there is no foreign origin for the objects.

Van Drew and other lawmakers have pushed back on those denials.

“Here’s the deal: they don’t know what it is. They don’t know what it’s about,” Van Drew told Fox News. “They have no idea where it comes from, but they know what it’s not about? That’s nonsense.”

In a separate incident across the country, a northern California man was charged on 11 December with flying a drone over and taking pictures of Vandenberg Space Force Base, located near Santa Barbara.

The incident is alleged to have taken place on 30 November, according to prosecutors.The man, 39-year-old Chinese national Yinpiao Zhou was arrested just before he boarded a flight to China. He appeared in court on Tuesday and no plea was was taken.

There has been no suggestion that the incident is related to the spate of reported drone sightings on the east coast.

Several lawmakers have suggested that the drones should be shot down and analysed to determine their origin and intentions.

Among them is President-elect Donald Trump, who took to his Truth Social media platform to suggest that drones couldn’t be flying without the government’s knowledge.

“Let the public know, and now,” he wrote. “Otherwise, shoot them down”.The US Federal Aviation Administration has also established temporary flight restrictions prohibiting drone flights over Bedminster and Picatinny.

In a statement, the FAA also warned that drone operators who conduct unsafe or dangerous operations could face fines of up to $75,000 (£59,000) and have their drone pilot certificates revoked.

In a letter to US President Joe Biden published on 13 December, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy urged federal agencies to “work together” to solve the mystery, as well as push Congress to extend counter-drone capabilities to local law enforcement.

Some residents have suggested they may take action against the drones themselves – something authorities have strongly warned against doing, as it is illegal.

“A good shotgun will fix that problem,” a man commented on a video of a drone on social media.