New Jersey congressman briefed on drone sightings as fellow lawmakers, residents demand more transparency
MENDHAM, N.J. — A New Jersey congressman got a top secret briefing in Washington, D.C. on the drone sightings across the region as state residents and lawmakers demand more transparency from the federal government.
Many Mendham residents say their quaint township is being overrun by mystery drones.
"You just have to walk outside and look up," said resident Ken Hastings.
"It's like mildly concerning, for sure," said resident Amadeus Cohen.
Video shot by a CBS News New York photographer shows drones hovering over West Orange.
An FBI official says of the 5,000 drone tips the agency has received, less than 100 have been worthy of investigation and that most are manned aircraft.
"If it's not secret, then why do people have to be briefed?"
Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who is on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, got a high-level briefing Tuesday.
"Obviously I can't go into the specifics given that it's a classified briefing, but I feel very confident, as I've said all along and this reinforces it, that based on what we heard from the intelligence community, there's no imminent threat to date of public safety," Gottheimer told CBS News New York's Christine Sloan over the phone.
Many local and state lawmakers say they haven't received any kind of information, which they find frustrating.
"If it's not secret, then why do people have to be briefed? What do you need top secret clearance? What do you need briefing of an intelligence committee if there's nothing going on?" said Sen. Jon Bramnick.
Bramnick is among the lawmakers demanding more information from the feds. The mayor of Belleville is convinced some of the drones belong to the United States government.
"In my opinion, they're looking for something or, as we would say, they're sniffing for something," Belleville Mayor Michael Melham said.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer has proposed legislation to help the region.
"Our legislation will explicitly authorize state and local authorities to conduct drone detection," he said.
A law enforcement source tells CBS News New York that New Jersey has received equipment capable of detecting the larger drones seen early on, saying the feds have also sent personnel, but the source also says all this comes as drone activity appears to be dropping.