>>513037984
they were Pterodynamics XP-4 Transwing drones

They can shift their wings to either fly traditionally like a regular airplane, or shift to quadcopter-style drone movement
They are typically used for ground surveillance in different spectrums

Operating theory is that they were looking for something highly sensitive that went missing in the New Jersey area, maybe nuclear material from a ship that had been smuggled in or stolen or something like that

The UFO story was a necessary cover-up to keep people from panicking
I'm pretty sure if you look up more about these specific drones, or see videos of them in flight, you'll realize that's what you were seeing
the lights, the switch in movement patterns that in the dark would appear to be "alien"-like movements, it all clicks
Pretty sure there was even a news story shortly before they started appearing about a possible shipment of nuclear material that went missing from a cargo tanker in new jersey, but I can't find that when looking for it

hope this at least helps