I look at it a couple ways. The, to me, most logical theory is that there are several residents that have drones and are doing the flights at night to raise a bit of a ruckus and enjoy the chaos that has been developing. A more modern day prank if you will.
Reminds me of an unintentional prank we played on the fine citizens of Valdosta, Ga one night, while stationed at Moody, AFB in the F-4E. We were doing night intercepts in the airspace (MOA) over downtown Valdosta at 20,000’ and above. At some point, one of us two pilots (can’t remember which or admit to it) deployed a couple of flares to aid in the rejoin for RTB. Thinking nothing of it, we rejoined and descended for landing.
The next morning the following headline was in the Valdosta newspaper; “UFOs SPOTTED OVER DOWNTOWN VALDOSTA LAST NIGHT”. It made for entertaining conversation in the squadron and at the bar the following Friday night. Of course, it turned into an unofficial night rejoin “technique only” for some of us, purely for entertainment purposes only.
Then, some weeks later, I led a two ship to the Elgin AFB Fl bombing ranges to drop some BDU-33 (blue practice bombs) on a conventional bomb circle. Since it was a pitch black night with no moon illumination and very few lights on the ground, we were taking our time being very deliberate in the bomb pattern and subsequent dive into the darkness. After dropping one each of our six BDUs on each pass, it was time to climb up, rejoin, and check in with Jacksonville Center for the trip back to Moody. As lead, I was in a climbing turn and attempting to talk #2’s eyes on to me for the rejoin. Getting frustrated with his “night blindness”, I told him to watch for an afterburner stroke. We tried this twice. He was unable to see our burner strokes, directly above him. So, I told him to watch for something brighter. Flare switch to “ON” and ripple away. Over the radio, “Oh, there you are, right where you said you were”.
The next morning, headline in the Valdosta paper “UFOs REPORTED OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE LAST NIGHT”.