Since mid-November, hundreds of unidentified drones have been spotted flying over New Jersey during the night. This has confused citizens, who have received little information from authorities as to what this could mean.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) began receiving reports of these drones on November 18 near Morris County, according to CNN. These large drones caused concern in November when they regularly flew near the Picatinny Arsenal U.S. Military research facility, and Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster. In early December, the FAA responded by implementing temporary flight restrictions over these two areas.
Since then, the areas the drones visit each night has expanded. According to PhillyVoice, since early December, neighborhoods in Philadelphia have reported drone sightings and according to PIX11, Staten Island, New York has been seeing drones since December 3.
According to CNN, the drones are up to 6 feet in diameter, roughly the size of small cars. This is much larger than drones usually used by hobbyists, and much more expensive.
Lawmakers and officials in the New Jersey area have battled to make more information public. State lawmakers met in Ewing, NJ, on December 11. According to News 12 New Jersey, many mayors and leaders left that meeting frustrated at the lack of information received. State Assemblyman Brian Bergen stated that “I’m legitimately concerned for what the hell is going on, because nobody knows.” State Senator Declan O’Scanlon did make it clear, though, that “We’re going to have pretty sophisticated radar and camera equipment that’s cutting edge that’s going to come into the state in the next week or so.” NJ Governor Phil Murphy has been concrete in the fact that “based on everything we know, we don’t see any evidence of a risk to public safety.”
According to TechCrunch, in a press briefing on December 11, the Pentagon stated that it had no evidence to believe that the drones originated from another country, or that they were U.S. military drones. The government has continued to suggest that if you see a drone, you should contact local law enforcement.
It is important to know that a majority of drone sightings and reports are later found to have been airplanes or other normal aircraft. According to Newsweek, an FBI official said that out of around 5,000 cases of drone sightings, “less than 100 leads have been generated and deemed worthy of further investigative activity.”
WMC Senior Liam O’Hara believes that “Politicians are trying to figure out what’s going on. The higher ups in the government know what’s going on. I don’t think they’re releasing it because of mass hysteria.” O’Hara thinks that whatever the cause may be, the government is being overly secret so that people don’t panic even more over it.
WMC Science Teacher Mr. Kling thinks that the drones could possibly be coming from private individuals. “There could be people having fun with this, and the government wouldn’t know. Because it [could be] just some guy with a drone, and he’s just flying it around because he likes it.” Mr. Kling added that if it was in fact private individuals, that “I wouldn’t be shocked if we find out in the coming weeks, because the government will be alarmed by that and they would be investigating, with the attention of the military and the FBI.”
The situation has continued to develop as of December 17.
