Drones of indeterminate origin have been buzzing New Jersey over the last month, prompting a mixed bag of responses from lawmakers. The state’s governor has insisted the drones are safe, while a Congressman believes they’re the vanguard of an Iranian “mothership”.
Homeland security officials and regional lawmakers met on Wednesday to discuss the sightings further.
Dozens of mysterious nighttime flights started last month and have raised growing concern among residents and officials. Part of the worry stems from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a US military research and manufacturing facility, and over president-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster. Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use, but they are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must also be FAA certified.
Trump weighed in on Friday, calling on the airborne objects to be shot down.
“Mystery drone sightings all over the country,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!”
Most, but not all, of the aerial objects spotted in New Jersey were larger than drones typically used by hobbyists, with reports claiming some are the size of an SUV,
The number of sightings has increased in recent days, though officials say many of the objects seen may have been planes rather than drones. It’s also possible that a single drone has been reported more than once.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told CNN on Friday that many of the sightings were “a case of mistaken identity” and that Homeland Security is in regular contact with New Jersey officials and has deployed experts and monitoring equipment to the state. “We have not seen any unusual activity. We know of no threat. We know of no nefarious activity,” he said, adding, “Technology has not confirmed any drone sighting.
“In addition, it has confirmed that some drone sightings are in fact small aircraft.”
Gov. Phil Murphy and local law enforcement officials have stressed that the drones don’t appear to threaten public safety. The FBI has been investigating and has asked residents to share any videos, photos or other information they may have.
US Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey shared a video on X on Friday of a group of drones near the Round Valley Reservoir.
Last night I went out with local police to spot drone flying over New Jersey, here’s what I saw. We drove to Round Valley Reservoir and the officer pointed to lights moving low over the tree line. Sometimes they were solid white light, others flashed of red and green.THREAD pic.twitter.com/ly7kUUDWDn
— Andy Kim (@AndyKimNJ) December 13, 2024
“This has gone on for weeks,” he wrote along with the videos. “It’s hard to understand how with the technology we have we aren’t able to track these devices to determine origin and this makes me much more concerned about our capabilities more broadly when it comes to drone detection and counter measures.”
Many municipal lawmakers have called for more restrictions on who is entitled to fly the unmanned devices. At least one state lawmaker proposed a temporary ban on drone flights.
“This is something we’re taking deadly seriously. I don’t blame people for being frustrated," New Jersey governor Phil Murphy said earlier this week.
New Jersey congressman Jeff Van Drew echoed Murphy’s sentiments.
“We have a serious problem with our aerospace,” he said on Wednesday before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. “The recent sightings of unidentified drones in the state of New Jersey, my home state, is justifiably causing tremendous public concern.”
Unlike Murphy, however, Van Drew blamed the drones on an “Iranian mothership”.
“I’ve learned, for real, that there is circumstantial evidence that there’s an Iranian mothership off the east coast of the United States, and that’s launching these drone incursions,” he said.
Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh shot that theory down, assuring ABC News that there “is not any truth to that — there is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so called mothership launching drones towards the United States”.
“We’re going to continue to monitor what is happening,” Singh added. “At no point were our installations threatened when this activity was occurring.”
Van Drew did not buy the Pentagon’s response, insisting during an ABC News interview that there is a “real possibility that it is a foreign entity”.
“[The Pentagon says] to us there’s nothing to fear, but we have no idea who it is, where it comes from, what it’s about, and what it can do,” he said.
Details about Wednesday’s meeting were not immediately disclosed, and Murphy did not attend.
Republican Assemblyman Erik Peterson, whose district includes parts of the state where the drones have been reported, said he and other legislators met with Homeland Security and state police officials for about 90 minutes at a state police facility in West Trenton.
Peterson said DHS officials were generous with their time, but appeared dismissive of some concerns, saying not all the sightings reported have been confirmed to involve drones.
“So who or what is behind the flying objects? Where are they coming from? What are they doing? My understanding is they have no clue,” Peterson said.
A message seeking comment on Peterson’s remarks was left with the Department of Homeland Security.
Most of the drones have been spotted along coastal areas and some were recently reported flying over a large reservoir in Clinton. Sightings also have been reported in neighbouring states, including the New York City area, and over Pennsylvania’s Delaware County and Philadelphia.
James Edwards, of Succasunna, New Jersey, said he has seen a few drones flying over his neighbourhood since last month.
“It raises concern mainly because there’s so much that’s unknown,” Edwards said Wednesday. “There are lots of people spouting off about various conspiracies that they believe are in play here, but that only adds fuel to the fire unnecessarily. We need to wait and see what is really happening here, not let fear of the unknown overtake us.”
Additional reporting by Associated Press
