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For weeks, citizens across New Jersey — as well as New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut — have reported seeing clusters of drone-like objects flying low in the sky at night, yet information remains scarce, even as state officials now say they’ve seen the drones firsthand, received mixed information from federal agencies and pushed the FBI for answers.
Key Facts
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC News on Sunday, “there's no question that people are seeing drones,” though some of the recent sightings in New Jersey and other East Coast states might be manned aircraft or duplicate reports.
Mayorkas said officials have deployed extra resources to look into the sightings and will let the public know if there is reason for concern—“we are on it,” he said—but so far, there’s no indication of foreign involvement.
In a similar vein, an unnamed FBI official said in a White House briefing fewer than 100 of the agency’s 5,000 tips on drone sightings have been worthy of further investigation, and modeling shows many of the sightings have taken place in the flight paths of major airports, suggesting people could be mistaking planes for drones.
Still, the uptick in reported drone sightings has caused concern across several states, with social media users posting videos of lit objects hovering in the sky at night, and state officials asking the federal government for clarity.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday federal officials are sending a “drone detection system” to her state, but argued Congress should give the state “the power to deal directly with the drones”—an idea also backed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, while Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for Congress to give local police “more tools.”
Hochul previously said drone activity forced Stewart Airfield north of New York City to close its runways for about an hour Friday night, adding: “This has gone too far.”
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., posted several videos on X of alleged drone sightings he recorded while out with police Thursday night, and described them doing maneuvers that are uncharacteristic of planes—though he acknowledged Saturday that “deeper analysis” indicated most of the sightings were “almost certainly planes.”
Kim said “others may have seen actual drone activity,” and argued federal officials “should provide information and guidance to the public.”
Connecticut state Sen. Tony Hwang released a statement Friday saying there were “sightings of possible unauthorized drones” in Fairfield, Connecticut, saying the state must be “proactive, not reactive” in getting answers, even if it means “shooting drones down.”
Michael Melham, the mayor of Belleville, New Jersey, told Fox News the state’s Office of Emergency Management urged him to “immediately call the [county] bomb squad” if there is a “downed drone” nearby and that the fire department was “instructed to wear hazmat suits” around any fallen drone, saying it’s unclear if the drones have a “payload.”
The reports started when New Jersey police announced Nov. 19 that officers had witnessed “drone activity” the previous night over Morris County, in the state’s northwest corner, and said they would investigate the activity, noting rumors were “spreading on social media” though there was “no known threat to public safety.”
A New Jersey police chief described the drones as the size of a car and bigger than the standard drones available for amateur flyers; sightings have been “occurring nightly for the past two weeks beginning just after sunset and lasting well into the early morning hours,” Joseph Orlando, chief of police in Florham Park, New Jersey, said in a statement on Dec. 4.
The Federal Aviation Administration responded in early December by implementing and later extending “temporary flight restrictions” on drone use over the Picatinny Arsenal military base and Bedminster, which is home to President-elect’s Donald Trump’s golf club.
On Dec. 3, the FBI joined several New Jersey police investigations, announcing a public request for more information on the observed “cluster of what look to be drones and a possible fixed-wing aircraft.”
SOURCE:https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephe...-as-feds-send-detection-system-to-ny-updated/
Key Facts
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC News on Sunday, “there's no question that people are seeing drones,” though some of the recent sightings in New Jersey and other East Coast states might be manned aircraft or duplicate reports.
Mayorkas said officials have deployed extra resources to look into the sightings and will let the public know if there is reason for concern—“we are on it,” he said—but so far, there’s no indication of foreign involvement.
In a similar vein, an unnamed FBI official said in a White House briefing fewer than 100 of the agency’s 5,000 tips on drone sightings have been worthy of further investigation, and modeling shows many of the sightings have taken place in the flight paths of major airports, suggesting people could be mistaking planes for drones.
Still, the uptick in reported drone sightings has caused concern across several states, with social media users posting videos of lit objects hovering in the sky at night, and state officials asking the federal government for clarity.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday federal officials are sending a “drone detection system” to her state, but argued Congress should give the state “the power to deal directly with the drones”—an idea also backed by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, while Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for Congress to give local police “more tools.”
Hochul previously said drone activity forced Stewart Airfield north of New York City to close its runways for about an hour Friday night, adding: “This has gone too far.”
Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., posted several videos on X of alleged drone sightings he recorded while out with police Thursday night, and described them doing maneuvers that are uncharacteristic of planes—though he acknowledged Saturday that “deeper analysis” indicated most of the sightings were “almost certainly planes.”
Kim said “others may have seen actual drone activity,” and argued federal officials “should provide information and guidance to the public.”
Connecticut state Sen. Tony Hwang released a statement Friday saying there were “sightings of possible unauthorized drones” in Fairfield, Connecticut, saying the state must be “proactive, not reactive” in getting answers, even if it means “shooting drones down.”
Michael Melham, the mayor of Belleville, New Jersey, told Fox News the state’s Office of Emergency Management urged him to “immediately call the [county] bomb squad” if there is a “downed drone” nearby and that the fire department was “instructed to wear hazmat suits” around any fallen drone, saying it’s unclear if the drones have a “payload.”
The reports started when New Jersey police announced Nov. 19 that officers had witnessed “drone activity” the previous night over Morris County, in the state’s northwest corner, and said they would investigate the activity, noting rumors were “spreading on social media” though there was “no known threat to public safety.”
A New Jersey police chief described the drones as the size of a car and bigger than the standard drones available for amateur flyers; sightings have been “occurring nightly for the past two weeks beginning just after sunset and lasting well into the early morning hours,” Joseph Orlando, chief of police in Florham Park, New Jersey, said in a statement on Dec. 4.
The Federal Aviation Administration responded in early December by implementing and later extending “temporary flight restrictions” on drone use over the Picatinny Arsenal military base and Bedminster, which is home to President-elect’s Donald Trump’s golf club.
On Dec. 3, the FBI joined several New Jersey police investigations, announcing a public request for more information on the observed “cluster of what look to be drones and a possible fixed-wing aircraft.”
SOURCE:https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephe...-as-feds-send-detection-system-to-ny-updated/
