Written by Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Officials from the White House, FBI and Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Saturday that most recent drone incidents reported in New Jersey and neighboring states have involved manned aircraft, and there is no evidence of any threat to national security.
An FBI official told reporters during an impromptu news conference that the agency is working with 50 local, state and federal partners to look into the growing reports. The official said fewer than 100 of the more than 5,000 reported sightings were worthy of further investigation, and all of the large sightings of fixed-wing aircraft reported so far involved manned aircraft.
“The combined efforts to date… which include technical equipment, information on information lines and the aforementioned consultations… have found no evidence to support large-scale (unmanned aerial systems) activities,” the official said, adding that many of these activities occurred along the flight paths. Regular.
The official added that intensive efforts are underway to investigate the remaining cases using interviews, radar and intelligence analyses.
“We cannot ignore the sightings that took place there,” the official said. “We are doing our best to find the source of the drone activities, but I think there has been a bit of an overreaction.”
The Federal Aviation Administration has restricted the airspace around Saturday's Army-Navy football game in Maryland, creating a two-mile “no-drone zone” around the field, state officials announced. President-elect Donald Trump and J.D. Vance attended the game.
A wave of drone sightings, which began in New Jersey in mid-November, has spread in recent days to include Maryland, Massachusetts and other states. The sightings received media attention and prompted the creation of a Facebook (NASDAQ:) page called “New Jersey's Mysterious Drones – Let's Solve Them” with 56,000 members online.
A White House official said that US President Joe Biden receives regular updates on this issue.
On Cape Cod, Massachusetts, residents and a Harwich police officer reported seeing 10-15 drones flying in the sky Friday night, the Boston Herald reported.
Police passed the information on to the FBI in Boston and the Massachusetts State Police.
Gov. Maura Healey said on Facebook that she was also “aware of the increasing number of drone sightings throughout Massachusetts and we are monitoring the situation closely.”
New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Saturday called for enhanced federal law enforcement efforts after the runways of a local airport in the Hudson Valley (NYSE:) were closed for one hour due to drone activity on Friday.
“This has gone too far,” Hochul said in a statement on social media network
A temporary ban on drone activity over Picatinny Arsenal military base in Wharton, New Jersey, was scheduled to expire on December 26 and could become permanent, an FAA official said.
A military official told reporters that drones were seen over Picatinny and another naval weapons station in December, but there was no intelligence or observation to suggest they were linked to a foreign actor or had malicious intent. The official added that drone operations over military installations are generally prohibited, but do occur from time to time.
A second ban has been imposed at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and was scheduled to expire on December 20, but could be extended, the FAA official said.
