Residents of New Jersey are freaking out over reports of what they claim are “giant drones” flying around at night. Authorities claim that at least some of those encounters are simply ordinary, historic commercial flights.
As it happens, a few apps exist that could aid in avoiding that kind of misunderstanding.
Users can view the thousands of commercial and private flights and helicopters that may be in the skies at any given time, as well as the aircraft flying around them, in real-time, using apps like Flightradar24, Plane Finder, and FlightAware. In certain situations, the applications may also recognise unpiloted aircraft, such as commercial drones, which use the same signalling system as aeroplanes to indicate their location.
You may view a map of your position with these applications or their websites, and you can see the air traffic over you as well as specific aircraft information like altitude, speed, and destination. Additionally, a code indicating the airline or, in the case of private aircraft, the registration code may be displayed.
Similar to Shazam for aeroplanes, FlightRadar24 and Plane Finder allow you to capture images of an aircraft in the sky with your phone’s camera and receive information about it, even at night.
Flightradar24 claims to be able to track over 200,000 planes in the sky on any given day.
Additionally, some have made it a pastime to monitor these aircraft. For instance, when a US Air Force plane carrying then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan in August 2022, over 700,000 people watched the event live on Flightradar24.
These applications function by gathering information from satellites and other data sources, as well as “ADS-B” data—the information that the majority of aircraft send to ground stations and other aircraft.
Experts warn that planes are frequently farther away than they look to the human eye, so if you’re having problems spotting one on the app, you might need to zoom out on the map.
Naturally, not all aircraft will appear on such platforms; for instance, some tiny hobby drones lack the equipment necessary to broadcast their whereabouts in the same way as commercial aircraft. Air Force One and other prominent military aircraft are also barred.
