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An increase in alleged drone sightings throughout the East Coast sparked a flurry of panicked calls for an investigation from state residents and lawmakers on Friday, even as public officials stress that the planes in question are, in fact, flying legally, and a retired aviation expert from the port authority told Fox News Digital that the fears are overblown. .
Drone complaints it started to pour last month in New Jersey, where witnesses and residents first began reporting drone sightings in coastal areas, including in Cape May, a picturesque town outside Atlantic City.
More recently, lawmakers in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland have reported new alleged drone sightings in their home states, with some witnesses claiming the aircraft in question were “the size of cars ” or has been seen flying over sensitive infrastructure or in restricted airspace. .
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, told reporters on Friday that he did written to President Biden to share his concerns about new reports of unmanned aircraft system (UAS) sightings in New Jersey airspace and called for more federal resources to investigate the issue.
“It has become clear that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity,” Murphy wrote in the letter.
DRONE MYSTERY: NEW JERSEY HOMEOWNERS THREAT TO FIND IT ON THEIR OWN HANDS IF GOVERNMENT DOESN’T ACT
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
Other state lawmakers have gone even further, calling for the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to join their investigations into the drone, with one Garden State lawmaker calling for the objects are “shot down” if necessary.
“We are literally being invaded by drones,” Pequannock Mayor Ryan Herbwe told reporters Wednesday night after a town hall meeting in New Jersey.
“We have no idea who is doing (this) and where they are coming from.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., issued a statement Friday citing concerns “about the potential of these unmanned aerial vehicles, many of which are as large as a car, to disrupt air traffic and , more alarmingly, to be used maliciously to threaten national security.”
These observations have added to a growing sense of collective panic, but panic that many in the law enforcement community say is unfounded and unnecessary.
White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby sought to allay those fears, stressing during a press conference Thursday that “there is no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a threat to national security or the public security, or have a foreign connection”.
Other members of the law enforcement community also echoed that sentiment. Retired Port Authority Police Lt. John Ryan told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday that the increase in activity is likely due to two things.
OWNERS THREATEN TO TAKE MATTER INTO THEIR OWN HANDS IF THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T ACT
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is seen next to a photo of reported drones in Connecticut. Blumenthal is one of the lawmakers who have pushed for action on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
The first, he said, is that drones are a rapidly evolving technology that has seen a boom in both recreational and commercial use in the US in the past 10 years. Federal data on drone registration reflects this sharp increase in use, most if not all of which is legal.
Federal drone registration data reflects this sharp increase in use: As of October of this year, there were more than 790,000 drones registered with the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) and nearly 400,000 commercial drones registered.
This is “just to give you an idea” of the magnitude of the number of legal drones in the USsaid Ryan, whose extensive police career included serving a decade as an EMT service commander of special operations at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport, and later the chief officer of the Port Authority, whose role includes overseeing all facilities of transportation, including Kennedy, LaGuardia and all other airports and ports in the area.
A map showing drone sightings in New Jersey.
The second mistake, Ryan said, is that the individuals in question turn to the wrong authorities for help.
“The mistake I see people make is they go to the wrong agencies and ask these questions,” he added.
The FAA is the federal agency responsible for registering drones and other US aircraft. It is also responsible for overseeing the use of recreational and commercial drones in the US
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“In New Jersey, they’ve been asking the FBI, they’ve been asking the Department of Homeland Security, they’ve been asking everybody but the people they should be asking,” Ryan said.
The Pentagon also reiterated that view, noting that an initial assessment had shown the drones were not from another country and were not shot down because they were not considered a threat to national security.
Kirby echoed that sentiment Thursday. Asked if the United States would consider banning the use of drones in American airspace, he told reporters, “I don’t know if we’re at a point where we’re considering that” as a policy option.
