NJ Drone Update: Sightings Down, But Push For Answers Continues

NEW JERSEY — The buzz around reported drone sightings across the Garden State seems to have died down a little, more than a month after the first reports began.

As of Dec. 17, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said it had received more than 5,000 tips since beginning their official inquiry on Nov. 26 — and that 100 of those tips generated a lead.

The drone sightings have alarmed, perplexed, and amused residents in various measures, while elected officials and first responders have called for federal agencies to share more information and resources.

Reports in Ocean County have decreased sharply since early December, Sheriff Michael Mastronardy told the Asbury Park Press this week. The sheriff, who assembled a unit to track the identified drones, said his office is "just waiting for our federal partners to let us know what’s going on."

Thus far, Gov. Phil Murphy, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration the Department of Defense, and the Department of Homeland Security have all said that there is no evidence the drones are doing anything nefarious.

The most concrete answer federal authorities have given is that many sightings are not suspicious, but rather "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."

Authorities said that reported drone sightings over military facilities, including over restricted airspace, "are not new" — confirming something they had denied several days earlier.

"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," said the DHS, FBI, FAA, and DoD in a joint statement last week.

The four federal agencies did acknowledge residents' concerns, and urged Congress to enact legislation "that would extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge."

Also, the Federal Aviation Administration has issued a temporary ban on drone flights over 22 New Jersey towns until mid-January for "special security reasons."

Gubernatorial candidates sound off

Elected officials from Mine Hill to Capitol Hill have been offering their opinions on what is needed to properly investigate the drones — including several who have also declared their intent to run for New Jersey governor, with the election less than a year away.

This includes U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), a North Jersey Democrat, who said he wants law enforcement to be given access to drone detectors and the authority to “take out drones that shouldn’t be in the air.”

Gottheimer said he's introduced legislation calling on federal officials to provide public briefings on what they know about the drones and calling for a drone air traffic control system similar to those used for planes.

Fellow Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), who is a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot, released a five-part "drone plan of action" to track the mysterious objects.

"New Jerseyans need answers — we’re sick of being told not to worry our pretty little heads while hearing that federal authorities don’t know what’s going on," she said last week. "I urge federal and state authorities to use this plan to address this crisis and give us the answers we deserve."

Former state assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, a Republican, said on a recent radio appearance that he would use emergency funds as governor to "get the State Police equipped with the same kind of drones, (and) get them up there in the air."

"If it’s got to be a 'Star Wars'-type encounter, let it be,” he said.