A sheriff in a small Wyoming town is grappling with an unexplained phenomenon: mysterious flying objects that have left local residents puzzled for over a year.
For 13 months, unidentified flying objects have been frequently observed hovering above the Jim Bridger Power Plant and the Red Desert in Sweetwater County.
Sheriff John Grossnickle recently witnessed these illuminated, drone-like objects on December 13, as reported by his spokesperson, Jason Mower, to Cowboy State Daily.
Mower explained that they have collaborated with every conceivable resource in an attempt to uncover the origins of these aerial anomalies.
“We’ve exhausted all avenues to identify what they are, yet no one seems willing to provide any answers,” he stated.
The sightings have become so routine that local residents have stopped reporting them to the Sheriff’s office, according to Mower’s comments to the news outlet.
‘It’s like the new normal,’ Mower said.
He also noted that the objects are thousands of feet above the earth, making them too high to shoot from the ground.
![The Jim Bridger Power Plant has been hub for Unidentified flying objects [ UFOs] for 13 months above](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/12/18/05/104833381-15393169-The_Jim_Bridger_Power_Plant_has_been_hub_for_Unidentified_flying-a-103_1766036273291.jpg)
The Jim Bridger Power Plant has been hub for Unidentified flying objects [ UFOs] for 13 months above
John Grossnickle, the Sheriff of Sweetwater County, saw lighted, drone-like objects as recently as December 13
Mower said there have been no issues or concerns among locals in the region, other than their presence.
However, if the UFOs were to cause danger, ‘rest assured … we’ll certainly act accordingly,’ Mower added.
The first drone sightings in Sweetwater came as New Jersey was gripped by mass hysteria when drones were seen repeatedly lighting up the night sky.
A private contractor seemingly solved that mystery after revealing at the Army’s UAS and Launched Effects Summit at Fort Rucker in August that they had launched the objects to ‘test out their capabilities,’ according to the NY Post.
‘You remember that big UFO scare in New Jersey last year? Well, that was us,’ an employee of the unnamed contractor allegedly told a crowd at the event.
According to a source at the summit, the employee went on to claim there was no need to disclose their work to the public because they had a private government contract.
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Locals in Sweetwater County are used to the strange sightings that the Sheriff’s office no longer receives calls about them
Some 964 sightings of flying objects were logged in the state between November 19 up until December 13 of 2024, according to statistics collected by the state’s Office of Emergency Management.
At the first press briefing of President Trump’s second administration on January 28, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had authorized drones and that they did not pose a national security threat.
The FAA last attributed the sightings to ‘lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, law enforcement drones, manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones’.
The agency then issued a temporary ban on flying drones, but as the sightings continued, warned that ‘deadly force’ could be used against drones that present an ‘imminent security threat.’
Exclusive polling from DailyMail.com and J.L. Partners found that nearly half (45 percent) of people believe the bizarre activity was more than just recreational or normal drone use, with the majority (26 percent) of those respondents pointing to foreign surveillance.
Similar sightings caused mass hysteria in New Jersey last year around the same time as the UFOs were seen in Sweetwater
A private unnamed contractor took responsibility for the drone activity and claimed that they were working under contract for the government
The foreign powers mentioned were China or Russia, which has been suspected among lawmakers like Michael McCaul, R-Texas, who said some of the unidentified aircraft are ‘spy drones.’
But 19 percent of Americans do believe the sightings are nothing more than hobby drones and 18 percent stated they are ‘normal flying actives that have been exaggerated.’
There are some Americans (17 percent) who believe the drones were government surveillance tools, but 10 percent said the craft was actually protecting citizens.
And a small eight percent are sure the drones are alien vehicles.
