A report I saw, which makes WAY more sense than anything else I've seen:
It is the government.
They're sweeping up EVERYTHING, as in any and all forms of data.
It's a new network of drones, which are being stress-tested over the most densely-populated state in the country.
The government isn't telling citizens what they're doing because they know people will hate the whole idea of it.
It could turn out to be something completely different. But at this point, that's the only explanation which fits the very few facts available.