'Insane' Spy Drone Theory Blasted By NJ Senator

NEW JERSEY — A New Jersey lawmaker blasted "irresponsible" comments made by a U.S. House Committee Chairman earlier this week about ongoing drone sightings around the state.

Meanwhile, Gov. Phil Murphy told residents to "take a breath" as he again said there are no identified threats from the drones, which have been sighted in various parts of the state for more than a month now.

On Tuesday, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) said he believes some of the unidentified craft are "spy drones" from China, despite federal authorities' insistence that many of them are legal aircraft.

“My judgment based on my experience is that those that are over our military sites are adversarial and most likely are coming from the People’s Republic of China," McCaul told reporters on Tuesday.

"We need to know who's behind that, because I believe they're spy drones," he said.

New Jersey State Sen. Declan O'Scanlon (R-13) said the theory was "insane" and meant to "stoke the fears" of the general public.

"The drone hysteria has crossed a line," he wrote on X.com. "Scaring people into believing that Chinese or Iranian forces are behind this (likely mass hysteria) phenomenon is irresponsible. A foreign nation taking such action would be an act of war."

After federal authorities sent advanced detection technology and trained observers to help investigate the sightings, multiple agencies said they had 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 statement said the FBI had received more than 5,000 tips with about 100 generating leads, and had determined after closely examining the technical data "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."

Gov. Phil Murphy again said that there is no known threat to the public from the drones, while appearing on News 12's "Ask Governor Murphy" program Thursday.

"There is no public threat here, period," he said in an appearance on News 12. "I can say that unequivocally."

The Federal Aviation Administration has also issued a temporary ban on drone flights over 22 New Jersey towns where critical infrastructure is located, out of what the governor said was "an abundance of caution."

"Take a breath and know that you are safe," Murphy said, adding that this incident shows "the vulnerability that we as a nation have to drone incursions."

The federal government’s authority to track and disable unmanned aircraft deemed threatening is set to expire after Friday, and a temporary spending bill before Congress that would extend that power is now in question.

Tucked into the bipartisan plan to prevent a government shutdown is a provision that would extend the authority of the departments of Homeland Security and Justice to track and disable unmanned aircraft deemed a credible threat from Dec. 20 until March 14.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Related articles —

• Feds Ban Drone Flights Over Multiple NJ Towns: See Where
• NJ Rep Walks Back Iranian Drone 'Mothership' Theory
• FBI, Homeland Security Provide Update On Drones In NJ Skies