A large number of mysterious drones have been reported flying over parts of New Jersey and other areas in the eastern United States, and officials are facing intense pressure to explain what is happening to the public.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Sunday night that he was taking matters into his own hands after a dearth of official information, posting to X that he had gone Drone detection with State Police in West Trenton.
“The public deserves clear answers — we will continue to press the federal government for more information and resources,” he wrote.
He followed up shortly after, saying he had seen a briefing from the FBI and Naval Weapons Station Earle, adding, “We stand ready to help the federal government get to the bottom of this matter.”
Officials urged the public to remain calm, insisting there is no evidence that the drone sightings pose a security threat. But the apparent sightings, which were described as occurring almost every night in the skies over New Jersey over the past month, have made residents and some lawmakers feel increasingly uneasy.
Last week, New Jersey State Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia shared a detailed report to X, claiming that drone formations have been spotted almost every night since November 18, with anywhere from four to 180 sighting reports per night.
The drones were described as being up to six feet long and sometimes traveling with their lights off. Adding to the mystery, she said drones appear to be evading traditional detection methods, such as radio and helicopters.
In this image from video, what appears to be a drone is seen above the treetops in Flanders, New Jersey, on December 3, 2024.
@xGabbyNu/TMX via AP
Investigations are continuing
In a joint statement last Thursday, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said: “There is no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a threat to national security or public safety or have a foreign affiliation.”
“I want to assure the American people of that We are on it“,” Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Sunday on ABC this weekCNN reported.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he is asking the Department of Homeland Security to deploy special detection systems that use 360-degree technology to detect drones.
However, President-elect Donald Trump cast more doubt on the situation on Monday, addressing the drones during a larger news conference at Mar-a-Lago.
“The government knows what’s going on. ‘Look, our military knows where they took off from,’” Trump said. “If it’s a garage, they can go straight to that garage. “They know where he came from and where he went, and for some reason they don’t want to comment.”
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“I don’t want to comment on that,” Trump said when asked if he had been briefed on the matter by the government.
Manned aircraft?
“I think the absolute majority of them are manned aircraft or low-flying satellites or planets,” Robert D’Amico, the FBI’s former counter-drone chief, told Global News on Monday.
“I’m not fooling people when I say the majority are manned aircraft or stars or planets or meteors. “It’s really hard to look up at the night sky and determine how far away something is and where that light is coming from,” he said, reflecting on the time he first joined Once to the anti-drone unit and was corrected several times after they mistook planes, satellites and planets for drones.
He also said that now that people are more aware of these mysterious formations in the sky, citizens are actively searching for sightings or perhaps “looking to add to the chaos.”
“If I were a teenager in New Jersey, I would be flying my own drone,” he said. “It would be like flying over the mayor’s house, the police officer’s house,” he said. “People who are creating chaos are using their drones to look for other drones.”
The flying objects were spotted near Picatinny Arsenal, a US military research and manufacturing facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, all in New Jersey, but the number of reported sightings has increased dramatically since then. Drones have also been spotted in Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and other parts of the mid-Atlantic region.
Drones cause operational headaches
Drones flying around Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, forced base officials to close its airspace for four hours late Friday into early Saturday, said Robert Portiman, a base spokesman.
Portiman said Monday that this was the first time drones had been spotted at the base, one of the largest in the world, and no sightings had been reported since early Saturday.
In addition, Runways were closed at New York’s Stuart Airport on Friday night due to nearby drone activity, USA Today reported.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul called on Congress to strengthen oversight of drones, saying in a statement: “This has gone too far“.
She urged Congress to pass the Security and Safety Act and reauthorize the Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Authority, enabling local law enforcement to do more to confront drones.
Meanwhile, city police in Boston arrested two men accused of operating a drone “dangerously close” to Logan Airport on Saturday evening.
Authorities said an officer using drone surveillance technology discovered the plane and the location of its operators. A third man fled police and remains at large.
Authorities said the two men face trespassing charges and could face more charges and fines.
Several drones are seen over Bernardsville, New Jersey, December 5, 2024.
Brian Glenn/TMX via AP
Calls to shoot down drones
Some federal lawmakers have called on the military to “shoot down” the drones.
Trump said he believes the government knows more than it’s letting on. “Let the public know, now. Or else shoot them!!!” he posted on his social media site Truth Social.
Donald Trump / Social Truth
Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Thursday that the drones should be “shot down, if necessary.”
A New Jersey congressman has urged the Pentagon to authorize the use of force to shoot down one or more drones to try to find out who deployed them.
Republican US Representative Chris Smith said on Saturday in a press conference that the objects could fall over the ocean or in an unpopulated area.
“Why can’t we pick up at least one of these drones and get to the bottom of it?” Smith said.
Asking people to shoot down drones “is the most dangerous thing you can ask them to do,” D’Amico told Global News.
First, he said it’s really hard to hit a drone. “Do you even know where that bullet is going to land? It’s probably going to land around someone.”
Second, D’Amico says, if a drone is shot down, it will likely go down and hurt or kill someone.
“You’re asking people to do things that are more dangerous than what — like drones flying at night? (They) could be (drones) legally and you’re asking people to go out and shoot them. That could kill someone.” Or someone gets hurt – for what reason?
Instead, D’Amico recommends that those interested in tracking unusual phenomena be diligent in recording their data and reporting anything out of the ordinary. He suggests making notes about the exact place and time the drone was spotted, referencing the sighting using apps that track flight data, and reporting the sightings to the appropriate organizations that collect the information.
Vijay Kumar, dean of engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, said shooting at drones is not only dangerous, it can also be dangerous. Destruction of approved unitssuch as first responder drones or drones used in deliveries.
Kumar told CNN that most of the photos he’s seen of the mysterious drones “are operating with visible lights, which indicates they are following the rules.” He added that most of what he saw in the photos appeared to be aircraft that would be registered with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Operate legally.
Where else have drones been spotted?
Two people said they spotted a plane Thursday night near Virginia Beach, and it looked unlike any other they’d seen.
John Knight told The Virginian-Pilot that the object was over the ocean, and they watched it move slowly over an Army National Guard facility. He added: “It flew like a helicopter, but it didn’t make any noise.”
The Virginia National Guard said it was aware of the incident and that it was under investigation.
Another military facility in the area is the Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex. NAS Oceana, the East Coast’s primary aircraft base in Virginia Beach, is aware of recent reports of sightings in the area and is coordinating with federal and state agencies to ensure the safety of its personnel and operations, public affairs officer Katie Hewitt said Friday. By email to The Associated Press.
In Massachusetts, between 10 and 15 drones were reported flying over a home Thursday night in Harwich on Cape Cod. A resident told police they were smart and watched them for more than an hour.
Earlier that evening, an off-duty police officer in the same city noticed similar activity near a public safety complex, police said. The information was sent to the FBI and Massachusetts State Police.
— With files from Reggie Cecchini of Global News and the Associated Press
