Federal officials in the United States, including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA), released a joint statement Tuesday morning addressing the mysterious drone sightings over New Jersey and New York.
The citizenry of the northeast U.S., along with countless people on social media, had been demanding more transparency around the purported sightings in recent weeks.
“There are more than one million drones lawfully registered with the FAA in the United States and there are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones lawfully in the sky on any given day. With the technology landscape evolving, we expect that number to increase over time,” began the statement.
“FBI has received tips of more than 5,000 reported drone sightings in the last few weeks with approximately 100 leads generated, and the federal government is supporting state and local officials in investigating these reports. Consistent with each of our unique missions and authorities, we are quickly working to prioritize and follow these leads. We have sent advanced detection technology to the region. And we have sent trained visual observers.
Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones. We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.”
The agencies did, however, say that they’re keeping a watchful eye on the skies should any tangible threat emerge.
“That said, we recognize the concern among many communities. We continue to support state and local authorities with advanced detection technology and support of law enforcement. We urge Congress to enact counter-UAS legislation when it reconvenes that would extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge.
Additionally, there have been a limited number of visual sightings of drones over military facilities in New Jersey and elsewhere, including within restricted air space. Such sightings near or over DoD installations are not new. DoD takes unauthorized access over its airspace seriously and coordinates closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, as appropriate. Local commanders are actively engaged to ensure there are appropriate detection and mitigation measures in place.”
Prior to the release of this joint statement, officials were facing intense pressure to explain the situation to the public.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy shared on Sunday night that he had taken matters into his own hands after a dearth of official information, posting to X that he went drone spotting with state police in West Trenton.
“The public deserves clear answers — we will keep pushing the federal government for more information and resources,” he wrote.
Tonight I met with @NJSP officials and radar technicians at the Regional Operations & Intelligence Center who are surveying the area for unmanned aircraft systems.
The public deserves clear answers — we will keep pushing the federal government for more information and resources. pic.twitter.com/PBye7a8wMv
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 16, 2024
He followed up shortly after, saying he’d been privy to a briefing from the FBI and Naval Weapons Station Earle, adding “we are ready to assist the federal government in getting to the bottom of this.”
Received a briefing tonight from @FBINewark Special Agent in Charge Nelson Delgado and his team at @NWSEarleNJ in Colts Neck to discuss the @FBI’s investigation into recent drone sightings.
We are ready to assist the federal government in getting to the bottom of this. pic.twitter.com/HSyLS0QsmA
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 16, 2024
Officials urged the public to remain calm, insisting that there is no evidence the drone sightings pose a security threat. But the apparent sightings, which have been described as almost nightly in the skies over New Jersey for the past month, have residents and some lawmakers feeling increasingly uneasy.
Last week, New Jersey Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia shared a detailed report to X, claiming that drone formations have been spotted almost every night since Nov. 18, with anywhere from four to 180 sighting reports per night.
She described the drones as up to six feet in diameter and sometimes travelling with their lights switched off. Adding to the mystery, she said the drones appear to avoid traditional methods of detection, like radio and helicopter.
In this image taken from video, what appears to be a drone is seen above treetops in Flanders, N.J., Dec. 3, 2024.
@xGabbyNu / TMX via APInvestigations ongoing
In a joint statement last Thursday, the FBI and DHS said there is “no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.”
“I want to assure the American public that we are on it,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Sunday on ABC’s This Week.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he’s asking the DHS to deploy special detection systems that use 360-degree technology to detect drones.
President-elect Donald Trump cast more doubt on the situation Monday, addressing the drones during a larger news conference at Mar-a-Lago.
A large number of mystery drones flying over parts of New Jersey and the East Coast have drawn criticism over why the public doesn’t know more about them. Here’s what to know. pic.twitter.com/uweEXLhGpr
— The Associated Press (@AP) December 16, 2024
“The government knows what is happening. Look, our military knows where they took off from,” said Trump. “If it’s a garage, they can go right into that garage. They know where it came from and where it went, and for some reason they don’t want to comment.”
“I don’t want to comment on that,” Trump said, when pressed about whether he had been briefed by the government.
Manned aircraft?
“I think the absolute majority of them are manned aircraft, low flying satellites or planets,” former FBI counter-drone chief Robert D’Amico told Global News Monday.
“I’m not gaslighting people when I say the majority are manned aircraft or stars or planets or shooting stars. It is just really hard to look at the sky at night and determine how far something is and where that light’s coming from,” he said, reflecting back on the time when he first joined the counter-drone unit and was corrected multiple times after he mistook planes, satellites and planets for drones.
He said, too, now that people have heightened awareness over these mysterious formations in the sky, citizens are actively looking for sightings or, perhaps, “looking to add chaos.”
“If I if I was a teenager in New Jersey, I’d be flying my drone. I’d be like flying it over the mayor’s house, the police officer’s house,” he said. “People adding to the chaos are flying their own drones to look for other drones.”
The flying objects have been spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. 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 grown greatly since then. Drones were also 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 about four hours late Friday into early Saturday, said Robert Purtiman, a base spokesperson.
It was the first time drones had been spotted at the base, one of the largest in the world, and no sightings have been reported since early Saturday, Purtiman said Monday.
Additionally, runways were closed at New York Stewart Airport Friday night due to nearby drone activity, reports USA Today.
New York Gov. 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 Counter-UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System) Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, empowering local law enforcement to do more to counter drones.
Meanwhile, in Boston, city police arrested two men accused of operating a drone “dangerously close” to Logan Airport on Saturday night.
Authorities said an officer using drone monitoring technology detected the aircraft and the location of the 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.
Multiple drones are seen over Bernardsville, N.J., Dec. 5, 2024.
Brian Glenn/TMX via APCalls to shoot down the drones
Some federal lawmakers have called on the military to “shoot down” 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 his social media site, Truth Social.
Sen. 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 bring down one or more drones to try to figure out who deployed them.
The objects could be downed over the ocean or in an unpopulated area on land, Republican U.S. Rep. Chris Smith said Saturday at a news conference.
“Why can’t we bag at least one of these drones and get to the bottom of it?” Smith said.
Telling people to shoot down drones, D’Amico told Global News, “is the most dangerous thing you can tell them to do.”
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.”
Secondly, D’Amico argues, if a drone is taken down with gunfire, it has potential to fall and hurt or kill someone.
“You’re telling people to do things that are more dangerous than what — like drones flying at night? (They) may be (flying drones) legally and you’re telling people to go out and shoot it. That may kill somebody or injure somebody — for what reason?”
Instead, D’Amico recommends those interested in tracking the unusual phenomena be diligent in recording their data and reporting anything out of the ordinary. He suggests keeping notes on the exact place and time a drone is spotted, cross-referencing the sighting with apps that track flight data, and reporting sightings to the appropriate organizations that are collecting information.
Vijay Kumar, the dean of engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, said that shooting at drones is not only dangerous but could also damage authorized units, like first responder drones or drones used for deliveries.
Kumar told CNN that most of the images he’s seen of the mystery drones “operate with visible running lights, which suggest they follow rules.” He added that most of what he’s seen in photographs looks to be aircraft that would be registered with the FAA and operating legally.
Where else have drones been spotted?
Two people said they spotted an aircraft Thursday night near Virginia Beach that was unlike any other they’ve seen.
The object was over the ocean, and they watched as it slowly moved over an Army National Guard facility, John Knight told The Virginian-Pilot. “It flew like a helicopter but made no noise,” he said.
The Virginia National Guard said it was aware of the incident and it was under investigation.
Another military installation in the area is Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex. NAS Oceana, the East Coast master jet 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, Katie Hewett, public affairs officer, said Friday by email to The Associated Press.
In Massachusetts, 10 to 15 drones were reported hovering over a home Thursday night in Harwich on Cape Cod. A resident told police they were bright and she observed them for more than an hour.
Earlier that evening, an off-duty police officer in the same town noticed similar activity near a public safety complex, police said. The information was forwarded to the FBI and Massachusetts State Police.
— With files from Global News’ Reggie Cecchini and The Associated Press
© 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Ad Choices