Possible drone landing in New Jersey under investigation, as Staten Island lawmakers demand answers
NEW YORK -- Mysterious drones hovering over New York and New Jersey continue to baffle residents and lawmakers. Investigators are now looking into whether one may have landed Thursday night in Somerset County, New Jersey.
Chopper 2 flew over the scene near a Lowe's parking lot off Route 206 in Hillsborough Township, where multiple law enforcement agencies could be seen combing a wooded area Friday morning. The FBI said it was aware of the incident but could not provide any further information.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, whose office met with local officials earlier this week, sent a letter to President Joe Biden on Friday, asking for more help from the federal government.
"While I am sincerely grateful for your administration's leadership in addressing this concerning issue, it has become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity," Murphy wrote.
The governor went on to say the ongoing sightings are raising more questions than answers, writing residents "deserve more concrete information."
"I respectfully urge you to continue to direct the federal agencies involved to work together until they uncover answers as to what is behind the UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) sightings," he wrote.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul also posted on social media Friday, saying, "We know New Yorkers have spotted drones in the air this week & we are investigating."
"At this time, there's no evidence that these drones pose a public safety or national security threat. We are coordinating with federal partners including @FBI and @DHSgov to protect New Yorkers," Hochul wrote.
"Let's be honest with the American people"
Meanwhile on Staten Island, elected officials held a news conference about the sightings, calling on the NYPD to do more to investigate the drones that have been seen over military bases, key points of interest and residential neighborhoods.
"Millions of people around here, in New Jersey and of course Staten Island and beyond, are getting nothing but, 'don't believe what you see,'" Borough President Vito Fossella said. "The people of Staten Island deserve answers, the people of this city and state and region deserve answers of what the heck is going on."
The borough president brought up recent sightings over the Verrazzano-Narrows and Goethals bridges and said, while he hasn't seen the drones himself, a neighbor sent him a video of what appeared to be one over his house.
"Let's be honest with the American people and treat them like adults and tell them what it is," he said.
Fossella was joined by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton and other local officials for the briefing.
"It's not right to us, as we get hundreds upon hundreds of constituent requests and questions asking what this is about that we have no answer," said Scarcella-Spanton. "So this is us standing today demanding an answer. We need to be able to tell our constituents what is going on."
The NYPD says it is investigating the drone activity with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force. Some of the most recent sightings were reported Thursday in the South Bronx and St. Albans, Queens.
Feds pressed for details about drones
Leaders in Washington, D.C. are also pressing for a federal briefing on the situation. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, of New York, and Cory Booker and Andy Kim, of New Jersey, sent a letter Thursday to the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and FAA calling the sightings alarming and a potential safety risk.
"We should know what's going on over our skies," Booker said.
The White House is trying to assuage the public, saying many of the more than 3,000 reported sightings may have been planes mistaken for drones.
"We have no evidence, at this time, that reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus," said White House national security spokesperson John Kirby.
Politicians continue to express frustration with what they believe to be inaction from the federal government. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, of Connecticut, has called for the unmanned drones to be shot down, though it's still unclear who is operating them.
The mysterious drones have also been spotted in the skies over Pennsylvania and Maryland.
