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Weeks of unexplained drone sightings in New Jersey have left residents, politicians and public safety officials scratching their heads, prompting security concerns.
With residents and multiple public officials calling for a response to the drone activity and experts working to uncover exactly what’s going on, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby on Thursday sought to assure the public there is no threat to public safety.
“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus,” Kirby said.
While many drone sightings have been reported, Kirby said images and videos of the drones that authorities and state and local law enforcement have reviewed appear to show that many of “the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully.”
The drone sightings are the subject of “an active federal investigation” led by the FBI, according to a document from the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness distributed at a meeting Wednesday with state and local officials. CNN has reached out to both agencies for comment.
US Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York and US Sens. Cory Booker and Andy Kim of New Jersey sent a letter Thursday to the US Department of Homeland Security, FBI and Federal Aviation Administration requesting a full briefing on the situation.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he is also pressing the federal government for more answers. In a post on X, Murphy said he spoke with US Homeland Security Advisor Liz Sherwood-Randall “to discuss my concerns over the federal government’s response.”
When and where have the drones been spotted?
The FAA reported sightings beginning in mid-November near Morris County. Some people have described the drones as the size of bicycles or small cars.
“We have reports from the public and law enforcement dating back several weeks,” the FBI field office in Newark said December 3.
New Jersey residents have described seeing the drones flying overhead, sometimes in clusters. Drone sightings have been reported around Morris and Somerset counties, according to local officials. Both counties are in the New York metropolitan area.
But the sightings haven’t only been among concerned residents. The US Coast Guard, part of the Department of Homeland Security, said one of its assets encountered the drones.
“Multiple low-altitude aircraft were observed in the vicinity of one of our vessels near Island Beach State Park,” Coast Guard Lt. Luke Pinneo told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The aircraft were not seen as an immediate threat and did not interfere with operations, Pinneo added. CNN has reached out to the Coast Guard but did not receive an immediate response.
After drones were spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a US military research facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, the FAA issued temporary flight restrictions over the properties.
The Picatinny Arsenal Police Department confirmed 11 reports of evening drone activity between November 13 and December 6 near the Wharton-based facility. A confirmed report means a police officer or security guard personally witnessed a drone after or while receiving a report about a sighting, according to Picatinny Arsenal officials.
Facility officials confirmed the sightings are not the result of Picatinny Arsenal-related activities.
“The drone sightings are taking place well outside of hours when most of our workforce is at Picatinny,” a facility spokesperson told CNN.
While visiting family in New Jersey, travel content creator Katie Caf, 29, said she spotted five potential drones the size of bicycles on Saturday, moving in a “zigzag pattern.”
West Milford Mayor Michele Dale reported 60 drones flying over local reservoirs.
Federal agencies have ruled out any connections of local, state, or federal governments to the sightings.
“Based on everything we know, there is no public safety risks we’re aware of,” Murphy told CNN affiliate WBGO on Wednesday.
“Is it frustrating to have no answers? Is it frustrating to not have a source for these things? Yes,” the governor told the radio station.
The lack of answers from officials is alarming, Republican Assemb. Brian Bergen told CNN’s Pamela Brown Thursday.
Bergen said officials received little information at the Wednesday meeting with New Jersey State Police.
“There are tons of these drones flying over the state of New Jersey and we don’t know where they are coming from, where they are going to and who is flying them,” he said.
The drones primarily operate at night, often displaying flashing lights, but they turn off the lights and evade police helicopters when approached, Mayor Michael Melham of Belleville Township said in a Facebook video update on Wednesday.
It’s possible the drones can evade radar detection because they do not emit frequencies or possess evasion capabilities, Melham suggested.
Pentagon officials immediately refuted claims by US Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a New Jersey Republican, that the drones were from an Iranian “mothership” off the East Coast of the US.
“There is not any truth to that,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said. “There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States.”
The sightings come as the US Department of Defense in a news release last week said drones present a “significant threat” to the US homeland.
The release, dated December 5, marked the signing by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin of a classified “Strategy for Countering Unmanned Systems,” which would unify DOD’s “approach to countering these systems … ”
“Unmanned aerial systems, most commonly known as drones, pose the most significant threat at this time and increasingly in the US homeland,” the release said.
Local officials from New Jersey’s Morris and Somerset counties acknowledged the “recurring reports of drone activity” and the public’s concerns in a joint press release Thursday.
Officials have directed the public to share tips, sightings and video of potential drone sightings.
“The FBI-Newark and the NJ State Police are asking for the public to report any information related to the recent sightings of possible drones. Anyone with relevant information is asked to call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submit it online at tips.fbi.gov. Citizens can also upload videos through the latter website,” the release said.
This story has been updated with additional information.
