Middletown Mayor Tony Perry wants answers.
Constituents in his northern New Jersey town want to know what’s going on with the strange lights that have been hovering in the night sky for weeks.
“I’m not sure how I’m going to go back to my residents and say I’m satisfied with this meeting, now that I know I have 180 drones flying over the state of New Jersey,” Perry said. said Wednesday briefing with a representative of the Department of Homeland Security. “We don’t have any more information about where these drones are coming from, where they are launching, where they are landing.”
The briefing comes as New Jersey faces one of the strangest, broadest and most extended contests ever recorded over unknown autonomous vehicles.
The drones — which are not “hobby,” but commercial-grade devices, according to many officials — have raised privacy, security and public safety concerns since they were first spotted in mid-November. Eyewitness reports, social media videos and authorities confirm that the drones are up to 6 feet in diameter, rapidly emit eerie lights, can’t move toward light at all, and often evade detection.
Now, unclear sightings of drones — and a lack of information about them — are causing uncertainty and frustration among local officials and law enforcement agencies who say agencies like the FBI and Homeland Security are targeting residents. Not doing enough to be transparent.
At a Wednesday briefing hosted by Gov. Phil Murphy’s office, a Homeland Security representative joined state officials via Skype, addressing local officials on the issue. According to local officials present at the meeting, Murphy did not attend.
Perry told NBC News that the FBI, which announced earlier this week that it was launching an investigation into the drones, did not have a representative present. Other than that very little information is available. Mayors at the briefing told NBC News that none of the state or federal agencies could directly confirm how many drones they thought might be flying over the state, one said. know of “at least 400 sightings,” while another said “there could be thousands.”
On Wednesday Class Regarding a program on WBGO, Murphy said there may be “over-reporting” of sightings, with many residents possibly seeing the same device or mistaking other flying objects for drones.
Several officials at the briefing said the drones were commercial grade, but could not confirm whether the drones belonged to US companies or foreign entities.
Although Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R.N.J. said Wednesday that the drones were coming from an Iranian “mothership” off the east coast. The Pentagon immediately denied. claims.
“There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there is no so-called mothership launching drones toward the United States,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said the same day.
Shortly after the meeting ended, New Jersey Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia posted online about her frustration, stressing her belief that “military intervention is the only way forward.”
“We don’t know anything. PERIOD,” she wrote via x. “To state that there is no known or credible threat is incredibly misleading, and I have conveyed that sentiment to all officials.”
Murphy later expressed plans to send letters to congressional leadership and President Joe Biden urging community responses: “Overwhelmingly, the feds have to take the lead here.”
“I’m putting a lot of faith in the experts and the federal government who do this for a living,” he said when asked about claims that there are no viable risks. “There is no evidence that anything is armed. There are some theories – we don’t take anything off the table.
Technological advances that have improved the capability and availability of drones have made the machines a growing concern around the world as well as a national security issue. The drones have started playing. A major role in military conflictswhile also troubling American bases. In Britain And America Police now often take special precautions. Competing with drones at major events.
New Jersey drones were reportedly spotted at Naval Weapons Station Early in Monmouth County and Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, two of the state’s military bases, as well as dozens of homes.
Mine Hill Mayor Sam Morris, who attended Wednesday’s briefing, told NBC News that while officials said they were able to track and confirm drone sightings in several counties across the state, , many drones go dark and lack any kind of trackers. They are difficult to take down, identify or follow.
The FBI said at a Homeland Security hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday that while it has opened an investigation, it doesn’t yet have answers.
“We don’t attribute it to any individual or group, yet. We’re investigating but I don’t have an answer as to who is responsible,” said Robert W. Wheeler Jr., FBI Critical Incident Response. said the assistant director of the group.
When asked if there was a threat to the public, Wheeler said, “There’s nothing that’s known, that I would say, but we just don’t know and that’s the relevant part.”
The US Northern Command, a military agency established after 9/11 to coordinate the Department of Defense’s civilian disaster response efforts. Confirmed Wednesday that although he is aware of the sighting and has conducted an analysis, he “has not been requested to assist in these incidents.”
State Sen. Jon Bramnick issued a statement Tuesday urging New Jersey leadership to declare a limited state of emergency to ban all drone flights until authorities provide more information about the sighting. can
“The public deserves answers about these drones! I’m calling for a limited state of emergency until we get an explanation,” he wrote in a Post on x.
Monmouth County Sheriff Sean Golden joined the calls for a state of emergency on Wednesday, urging the governor in a statement to issue an executive order banning recreational drone use during nighttime hours.
He said the drones had sparked a growing sense of “unease” among residents. Oh Map A report released by Monmouth County shows several areas to watch.
As such sightings continue, New Jersey residents have taken to social media to share photos and videos of drones flying overhead.
Verity Lee, a New Jersey resident, posted a video on Facebook on Sunday, showing a bright, illuminated drone flying in the night sky above her. Another Facebook user, Ernie Oporto, told NBC News that he filmed the drone in Woodbridge, near the town’s police station.
On Monday, a group of 20 Morris County mayors wrote a letter to Murphy expressing “deep concern” and the impact on the county’s 500,000 residents and officials. The letter called for formal investigations into the flights, clear communication with authorities and implementation of precautionary measures to combat unsafe drone operations.
Murphy said during a press conference Monday that he “doesn’t blame people for being disappointed,” adding that “the bottom line is that we don’t see any concerns about public safety. comes.”
Despite their insistence that there is no cause for concern, more local officials are coming forward to say they are frustrated by the lack of transparency from both state and federal officials.
State Rep. Chris Smith sent a letter to Defense Secretary Austin Lloyd on Wednesday, urging him to “immediately identify and address widespread drone activity in New Jersey within our jurisdiction.” Provide all capabilities.”
“New Jersey residents’ serious concerns need to be addressed with answers — not empty assurances. Now is the time to act,” Smith wrote in the letter.
Sen. Corey Booker, DNJ, sent a letter to federal officials Wednesday, arguing that “without transparency, I believe rumors, fear and misinformation will continue to spread.”