For days now, news outlets and individuals have reported that large drones have been flying low above northern and central New Jersey.
Aside from a claim by Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2), no government officials have said they know what they are or where they came from. Gov. Phil Murphy said that they do not pose a public safety threat, the FBI said it has no answers, and the Pentagon said they do not originate from foreign entities.
Murphy said on Sunday, Dec. 15, on Twitter that the FBI briefed him on recent drone sightings but he did not share further details with the public. “We are ready to assist the federal government in getting to the bottom of this,” he tweeted.
In Cape May County, Commissioner Director Leonard Desiderio said at a Dec. 10 county commissioners meeting that no drone sightings have been reported in the county. But Van Drew claimed Dec. 11 on Fox News that the drones are coming from an Iranian “mother ship,” a claim shot down by the Pentagon.
Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, said in a Dec. 11 press conference: “There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so-called ‘mother ship’ launching drones towards the United States.”
Van Drew fired back, claiming Dec. 12 on Fox News that “We aren’t being told the truth … They are dealing with the American public like we’re stupid.” He continued to say that his sources, who he said have high levels of security clearance, agree with him on the drones’ Iranian source.
According to reporting by the Associated Press, most of the drones have been spotted in Hunterdon County, roughly 150 miles from Cape May.
Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R-24, Sussex County), relayed details on Twitter after she left a briefing for lawmakers at New Jersey State Police headquarters.
Fantasia said that the drones “operate in a coordinated manner … Lights are turned off, making them difficult to detect … [they] appear to avoid detection by traditional methods (e.g., helicopters, radio frequencies).”
She said that reports began on Nov. 18 “with sightings occurring every night since then, from dusk until 11 p.m. … Reports range from four to 180 sightings per night.”
Desiderio said in a Dec. 12 statement that he and Martin Pagliughi, director of the county’s Office of Emergency Management, have been “interfacing with state and federal law enforcement agencies” so they are ready to advise the public if drones are spotted locally and to potentially track them.
Resident Arlayne Robinson, of Woodbine, said at the Dec. 10 commissioners meeting that she has seen large drones near her house for months and that she is not surprised by the reports.
“If it’s happening in North Jersey, it’s definitely happening here,” she said, although no county or municipal officials could confirm that the drones are flying locally.
Multiple sources, including U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, say that there is a significant overcount of supposedly unidentified drones. Kim spent a night with local police from Hunterdon County “to spot drone flying over New Jersey” using “a flight tracker app to help us distinguish from airplanes,” he said Dec. 13 on Twitter.
He followed up the next day, after working with civilian aviators, flight trackers and local police, to say that most, but not all, “of the possible drone sightings that were pointed out to me were almost certainly planes.”
The White House National Security Communications office said something similar on Thursday, Dec. 12: that many reports are of manned aircraft rather than drones.
On Dec. 16, ABC News was alone in reporting that “the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have deployed infrared cameras and drone detection technology to ensure the drones flying over the New Jersey and New York area aren’t harmful, according to a law enforcement source.”
Kim expressed frustration at lack of communication from federal officials.
“I think this situation in some ways reflects this moment in our country,” he said. “People have a lot anxiety right now about the economy, health, security, etc. And too often we find that those charged with working on these issues don’t engage the public with the respect and depth needed.”
Contact the Reporter, Collin Hall, at chall@cmcherald.com or by phone at 609-886-8600, ext. 156.
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