A large number of mysterious drones have been reported flying over New Jersey and across the eastern U.S., sparking speculation and concern over where they came from and why.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and U.S. Sen. Andy Kim have both gone out on drone hunts, hoping for answers. The FBI, Homeland Security, state police and other agencies are investigating.
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Murphy and law enforcement officials have stressed that the drones don’t appear to be a threat to public safety, but many state and municipal lawmakers have nonetheless called for stricter rules about who can fly the unmanned aircraft — and to be allowed to shoot them out of the sky.
Federal authorities said Monday evening that the reported drone sightings have been identified as legal commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned aircraft, helicopters and even stars. Officials said that assessment was based on technical data and tips.
The House Intelligence Committee grilled federal law enforcement and intelligence officials about the drones during a closed-door meeting Tuesday, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticut told CNN. Authorities told the panel there still is no evidence of public safety or national security threats, Himes said.
What has been seen in New Jersey?
Dozens of witnesses have reported seeing drones statewide since mid-November, including near the Picatinny Arsenal, a military research and manufacturing facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster.
Murphy, a Democrat, said Monday that drone-detection equipment supplied by the federal government has yielded little new information. He declined to describe the equipment except to say it was powerful and could even disable the drones, though he said that’s not legal on U.S. soil.
Murphy urged Congress to give states more authority to deal with the drones.
Meanwhile, the FBI and New Jersey state police warned against pointing lasers at suspected drones, because aircraft pilots are being hit in the eyes more often. Authorities also said they are concerned people might fire weapons at manned aircraft that they have mistaken for drones.
But do the drones pose a threat?
The growing anxiety among some residents is not lost on the Biden administration, which has faced criticism from Trump for not dealing with the matter more aggressively.
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday the federal government has yet to identify any public safety or national security risks from any of the reported drone sightings in the northeast, saying officials believe they were lawfully flown drones, planes or even stars.
“There are more than 1 million drones that are lawfully registered with the Federal Aviation Administration here in the United States,” Kirby said. “And there are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day. That is the ecosystem that we are dealing with.”
The federal government has deployed personnel and advanced technology to investigate the reports in New Jersey and other states, and is evaluating each tip reported by citizens, he said.
About 100 of the more than 5,000 drone sightings reported to the FBI in recent weeks were deemed credible enough to warrant more investigation, according to a joint statement by the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense.
Who is operating the drones?
Speculation has raged online, with some expressing concerns that the drones could be part of a nefarious plot by foreign agents.
Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said it's unlikely the drones are engaged in intelligence gathering, given how loud and bright they are. And he repeated Tuesday that the drones being reported are not being operated by the Department of Defense.
Asked whether military contractors might be operating drones in the New Jersey area, Ryder rebuffed the notion, saying there are “no military operations, no military drone or experiment operations in this corridor.”
Ryder said additional drone-detecting technology was being moved to some military installations, including the Picatinny Arsenal and at Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey, where drones also have been reported.
Drone operators charged
Two men have been charged with trespassing, breaking and entering and violating a municipal ordinance or bylaw after police said a drone was flown “dangerously close” to Boston's Logan International Airport on Saturday night.
An officer used drone monitoring technology detected the aircraft and the location of the operators on an island in Boston Harbor.
The Boston-area men pleaded not guilty to all charges in court Monday and were released pending a Feb. 6 court date. The judge banned them from flying drones. A third suspect is at large.
Authorities said the men broke into an abandoned hospital campus on the island. One of the men admitted to police he had been flying a drone and said it was in his backpack. An investigation of the drone's serial number produced data that shows it was flown six times on Saturday.
Michael Martin, a lawyer for one of the men, said his client is a drone hobbyist who is interested in abandoned buildings and that the drone footage will support this.
Officials urge action against the drones
Trump has said he believes the government knows more than it’s saying.
“Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!” he posted on Truth Social.
Kim said he’s heard nothing to support the notion that the government is hiding anything. He said a lack of faith in institutions is playing a key part in the saga.
“Nothing that I’m seeing, nothing that I’ve engaged in gives me any impression of that nature. But like, I get it, some people won’t believe me, right? Because that’s the level of distrust that we face," Kim said Monday.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut last week called for the drones to be “shot down."
Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden said members of the public must not try to shoot down drones, as that would violate state and federal laws.
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Associated Press writers Michael Casey in Boston; John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Tara Copp in Washington, D.C.; and Bruce Schreiner in Shelbyville, Kentucky contributed.