South Jersey drone sightings have communities on high alert, but Murphy says there's no "concern for public safety"
Drones in South Jersey are seemingly all the buzz amongst neighbors – still. The talk about these aircraft started last week – and spilled into the weekend.
This comes after Evesham Police Department announced last week that they are investigating the suspicious activity.
On Monday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy shared he understands the frustrations.
"We don't see any concern for public safety," he said in an audio recording released by the NJ Governor's Office. He told reporters: "Having said that, it's really frustrating that we don't have more answers as to where they're coming from and why they're doing what they're doing."
Murphy noted 49 sightings of suspected drones on Sunday alone. However, he said some of those reports were actually planes.
"We think these are overstated, but it's a non-zero number. I was on with the White House and Homeland Security leadership literally at the very top yesterday, pretty much all day. I'm hoping we'll get answers sooner than later," Murphy said.
In South Jersey, several neighbors said they continued seeing the suspicious activity throughout the weekend.
"It's on all the township news pages on Facebook and everything. People are taking pictures," Faith McDaniel, from Blackwood, said.
John Troncone, of Marlton, added: "I'm going to keep my eyes to the sky. I'm watching anyway, especially at nighttime."
Doug McLaughlin shared videos of the unusual activity with CBS News Philadelphia seen from his Marlton backyard.
"Saturday night we were sitting outside by the fire, and there they appeared," McLaughlin said.
He added: "The flight path above our house has been the same probably for years. So they're not following the regular flight path for the planes going to the airport."
Aviation expert Richard Levy hopes top law enforcement will provide answers to residents soon.
"The Department of Homeland Security is in touch with the mayor, the governor in New Jersey, Gov. Murphy. I find it quite interesting. I'm not speculating. They had a nice conversation, and the conclusions of that were not convincing to me that it was something bad, something mysterious, not saying it can't be," Levy said.
Sen. Andy Kim said his office has fielded "a lot of calls" regarding possible drone sightings. The congressman adds he too has sat down to talk about the issue with Homeland Security, plus the governor and other New Jersey lawmakers.
"I don't have information I can share just yet in terms of definitive information. But, you know, there are efforts at the federal, the state and the local level to try to ascertain what it is and what we're trying to do to be able to address that," Kim said.
A spokesperson for the FBI Philadelphia Division shared the following with CBS Philadelphia:
"FBI Philadelphia is aware of recent sightings of possible drones flying over South Jersey and Southeastern Pennsylvania. As always, suspicious or criminal activity can be reported to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submitted online at tips.fbi.gov."
The FAA sent this statement to CBS Philadelphia on the matter:
"The FAA began receiving reports of drone activity near Morris County, New Jersey, on Monday, Nov. 18.
At the request of federal security partners, the FAA published two Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) prohibiting drone flights over Picatinny Arsenal Military Base and Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.
Safely integrating drones into the National Airspace System is a key priority for the FAA.
We look into all reports of unauthorized drone operations and investigate when appropriate. Drone operators who conduct unsafe operations that endanger other aircraft or people on the ground could face fines up to $75,000. In addition, we can suspend or revoke drone operators' pilot certificates.
The agency works with federal and local law enforcement partners to educate them about how to respond to unsafe or unauthorized drone operations. FAA personnel in the 77 local Flight Standards District Offices (FSDO) across the country perform investigations and when necessary, take appropriate enforcement actions."
