Planes, stars and fans: Lawmakers insist nothing ‘nefarious’ is happening in NJ skies

Lawmakers emerging from a secret briefing with US intelligence officials insisted they received assurances that nothing “sinister” was afoot with the recent surge in drone sightings in New Jersey.

On Tuesday, US officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of National Security and the Defense Department privately briefed members of the House Intelligence Committee in an effort to ease growing fears about sightings of unmanned aircraft systems and new calls for federal action.

“There is no evidence that anyone has acted illegally here or that any of these drones, as far as the authorities know anything about them, are associated with anyone with nefarious intent,” Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn. , the committee’s ranking member, told reporters after the briefing.

“I don’t think we have any reason to believe they’re withholding information. And again, we asked 28 people an extraordinarily detailed series of questions over a three-hour period.”

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But the uptick in alleged drone sightings throughout the East Coast has prompted panicked calls for an investigation from residents and state lawmakers. The FBI has received more than 6,000 tips from the public about mysterious drone sightings.

A theory can be ruled out for good, according to Himes. The drones are not the work of a classified government operation, he said.

“We asked that question over and over and over,” he said, “they are not (tied to the US government). They assured us.”

Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Patrick S. Ryder emphasized to reporters that the drones seen along the east coast are not a DOD asset.

Instead, the prevailing theory among US officials seems to be that there is no reason behind the phenomenon, and many of the sightings called in by law enforcement are hobbyist planes, helicopters or drones operating legally.

“There’s no obvious threat coming from anywhere. These are just traditional aircraft, drones, stars, private jets, all the things that are usually in our skies,” said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.

Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican and an outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s response to drones, told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday that he plans to introduce legislation as soon as this week that would allow state police to manage better the drone threat. , including tracking the unmanned aircraft and, if necessary, shooting it down.

But Smith said Tuesday that he sees the bill as a “very real extension of a capability that’s needed right now” in the U.S. defense space.

“There’s more vulnerability here than anyone wants to admit, but we have to take action, decisive action,” Smith said.

On Friday, government agencies will lose their authority against drones without an FAA reauthorization from Congress. An extension of that authority is expected to be included in spending legislation to keep the government open, but security-minded lawmakers are pushing for broader reform to give state law enforcement and authorities to intercept and identify drones and equip them with radar detection. capabilities

“We’ve had a lot of responses. Frankly, drone technology has outpaced the law,” said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. “We need to work bipartisanly to plug some of the holes in the law regarding who is authorized to operate drones in what manner and how drones are disabled or dealt with in inappropriate airspace.”

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On Monday, DHS, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Pentagon issued a joint statement saying that while they “recognize the public’s concern,” there is no evidence that the drones are “anomalous ” or a threat to national security.

The drone complaints began spilling over last month in New Jersey, where witnesses and residents first began reporting drone sightings in coastal areas, including in Cape May, a picturesque town about 50 miles south of Atlantic City along the Jersey Shore.

More recently, lawmakers in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland have reported new drone sightings in their home states, with some witnesses claiming the aircraft in question were “the size of cars” or s ‘seen flying over sensitive infrastructure or in restricted airspace.

Krishnamoorthi insisted he was “satisfied” with the responses he received from the briefing, but that the government needs to do more to ease public concerns.

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“The public needs to see for themselves what these government officials have concluded and the technology that has been used.”