Bright lights floating or flying in the night sky of New Jersey have fascinated residents for almost a month. Now the sightings, some of which are from drones, according to federal authorities, have spread throughout the region.
For weeks, federal authorities investigating the sightings have provided few answers about what the objects are or their origin, which has left residents uneasy and local leaders frustrated.
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States, confirmed on Sunday in an interview with ABC News “that there is no doubt that drones are being sighted”.
Mayorkas noted that the Federal Aviation Administration changed its rules last year so that drones could fly at night, which could explain, he said, the recent uptick in sightings along the U.S. East Coast.
He did not offer further details about who might be operating the drones or where they came from, but noted that the federal government would help New Jersey state police respond to the sightings.
Although state and federal officials have assured that sightings do not pose a threat to residentsthis has done little to allay people’s concerns. Legislators have expressed their frustration due to lack of informationand they are urging the federal government to share more of their research.
President-elect Donald Trump has also weighed in, suggesting the government was withholding information about the sightings. “If not, shoot them down!!!”published on his Truth Social platform.
Photos and videos of the alleged drones show bright illuminated objects in a dark night sky. Some move; others seem to float in the air. Citizens and law enforcement officers who have observed the objects say their lights sometimes go out suddenly.
Facebook groups and Reddit threads dedicated to the sightings have racked up thousands of messages. A Facebook group has tens of thousands of members sharing videos and exchanging theories.
Last week, the mystery reached the White House, where a National Security Council spokesman, John Kirby, said at a news conference that federal investigators had been unable to corroborate reports of any unauthorized drones over New Jersey.
“On the contrary, after reviewing the available images, It appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated legally.“, said.
Department of Homeland Security and FBI officials said they had cross-checked the reported sightings with flight paths related to Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports, and concluded that many of the objects observed were actually planes taking off or landing.
In a press conference held a few days ago, Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman, said that The reported objects were not drones operated by the US military and that officials did not believe they “come from a foreign entity or adversary.” Local officials and residents have expressed frustration with federal authorities and the little information they have provided publicly so far.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said in a statement Friday that the White House’s attitude toward the sightings had been “lackadaisical.”
“The Biden administration has an obligation to the American people to find out and tell us what is happening immediately”Smith added.
The surge of sightings began in northern New Jersey in mid-Novemberafter staff at Picatinny Arsenal, an Army installation in Morris County, spotted what they said was a drone flying near the base. Days later, reports of the sightings began to reach the New Jersey State Police, according to a letter dated Thursday, December 12, that the state’s governor, Philip Murphy, sent to President Biden and posted on social media.
Initial sightings were concentrated in a few counties in northern New Jersey, but the phenomenon quickly spread throughout the state, including the southern coastal areas and the Philadelphia suburbs.
In early December, drone sightings were also reported in areas of New York, first on the west shore of Staten Island and then in southern Brooklyn near the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Sightings were reported Thursday in the Bronx and near LaGuardia Airport in Queens.
The next night, Mayor Eric Adams wrote on social media that he was “aware of concern” over sightings and that municipal officials were investigating them with federal and state agencies.
Residents in some areas of upstate New York have also reported mysterious nighttime sightings. On Friday night, reports of drone activity near New York’s Stewart International Airport in New Windsor prompted the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to close the runways for about an hour, said Lenis Valens, spokesperson for the organization.
This was the first time the runways at airports managed by the Port Authority were closed due to drone activity.Valens noted.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said last week that the objects did not pose a threat to public safety and that he was investigating the matter with federal law enforcement.
Other sightings have been reported in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland, where Larry Hogan, the state’s former governor, said on social media that he had seen “what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky” over his home in Davidsonville, Maryland.
The post included comments from readers who claimed that at least some of the lights Hogan had captured on video were the constellation Orion.
National Security Council spokesman Kirby said last week that federal authorities had conducted a “thorough analysis” of the images and videos and were using “very sophisticated electronic detection technologies” to try to determine what the objects were.
The FBI has been investigating the sightings since late November, and its field office in Newark has urged people to report relevant information to the agency’s tip line. Since this line opened on December 3, the agency has received approximately 5000 reportsaccording to an FBI official who spoke to reporters over the weekend on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Of these, the official said, fewer than 100 have been deemed credible enough to warrant further investigation.
Last week on Thursday night, Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey accompanied local law enforcement officers who were investigating sightings near Round Valley Reservoir in Hunterdon County. In a series of social media posts, Kim said he saw several objects in the sky that did not appear in flight monitoring software.
However, on Saturday Kim also said on social media that he had “concluded that most of the possible drone sightings reported to me were almost certainly airplanes”. After his excursion with agents, he said, he had spoken to pilots and consulted a more detailed flight-tracking system that showed he had been closer to flight paths than he had thought.
Lawmakers in New York and New Jersey have asked the federal government to provide more information about the suspected drones. On Sunday, the Secretary of Homeland Security said that help was on the way.
“I want to assure the American public that the federal government has deployed additional resources, personnel and technology to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing drone sightings,” Mayorkas said.
And Gov. Hochul wrote in a social media post Sunday that federal authorities would send a “drone detection system” to New York, as local authorities continued to receive reports of possible drones flying over the city.
“I appreciate the support, but we need more”Hochul wrote. “Congress must pass a law that gives us the power to deal directly with drones.”
Josh Gottheimer, a Democratic congressman who represents parts of northern New Jersey, announced Tuesday that he would introduce legislation to expand federal grants to help make radar systems available to local law enforcement.
“This technology will give our law enforcement agencies, which are the best in the world, the resources they need to identify how many drones there are, where they come from and where they are going,” Gottheimer said in a statement.
© The New York Times 2024
