What do we know about mystery drones flying over New Jersey?
New Jersey residents and lawmakers are pushing for more information about mysterious drone sightings, including some near military installations.
A federal official said Thursday that the FBI is the lead agency investigating along with the New Jersey state police. Local law enforcement are also investigating.
The NYPD said Thursday that multiple drones were also seen flying over a New York City neighborhood in the Bronx, but soon after officers responded to calls about the sightings, the drones disappeared.
What have authorities said about the drone sightings?
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said during a call-in program on Wednesday night that he would be bringing up the issue with the White House on Thursday but assured constituents that the drones as of now don't appear to pose a safety threat.
"Based on everything we know," Murphy said, "there is no public safety risk we're aware of. On the other hand, is it frustrating to not have more answers on this? Is it frustrating to not have a source for these things? Yes."
White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday that "we have not been able to corroborate any of the reported visual sightings" and that many of the drones are manned aircraft being operated lawfully.
An FBI official earlier this week told Congress that the FBI has received over 3,000 tips from the public about these incursions, which are mostly occurring at night.
On Thursday, Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration requesting a briefing "as soon as possible on how your agencies are working with federal and local law enforcement to identify and address the source of these incursions."
The FAA said Thursday that at the request of federal partners, it had published two temporary flight restrictions prohibiting drone flights over Picatinny Arsenal Military Base and Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.
Where have the drones been spotted?
The drones were first spotted near Morris county, in northern New Jersey, in mid-November. Since then, there have been reports of low flying drones throughout the Garden State, and they have been reported over Staten Island as well.
Where are the drones coming from?
"Our initial assessment is that this is not the work of a foreign adversary or a foreign entity," Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said on Wednesday.
After assessing that the drones are not a threat to military installations, the Pentagon is leaving it up to local law enforcement and the FBI to investigate the origins and type of drones.
Singh said the drones were not U.S. military drones, and she refuted an idea presented by Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey that there was an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast of the United States launching the drones.
Why not shoot them down?
Some lawmakers have called for shooting down the drones to analyze them, but others have voiced concern over falling debris endangering highly populated areas.
Singh, the Pentagon deputy press secretary, said base commanders have the authority to shoot them down if they pose a threat to military installations, but so far, there hasn't been a threat.
U.S. Northern Command, which oversees protecting the territory of the United States, said in a statement that it has not received requests from local law enforcement to assist.
"We are aware and monitoring the reports of unauthorized drone flights in the vicinity of military installations in New Jersey to include Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle, and we refer you to those installations for information on any efforts they are may be conducting to ensure the safety and security of their personnel and operations," the statement said.
Is this a one-of-a-kind incident?
This drone mystery falls on the heels of others in the past year or so.
One of the most notable cases was in December 2023, Langley Air Force Base in Virginia reported multiple drone incursions throughout that December. In a statement at the time, the base said that the number of drones fluctuated and they ranged in size and configuration.
The head of U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) Gen. Gregory Guillot told Congress earlier this year during testimony that, "Drones are certainly an increasing threat. We see them on average reported that, that are detected in the NORTHCOM [area of responsibility] is anywhere from two to five a week over installations, military installations."
