Most reported NJ drone sightings unfounded, feds say
By: Maddle McGAy
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Officials from multiple federal agencies reiterated in a Saturday [12/14/2024] briefing that the alleged drone sightings plaguing New Jersey in recent weeks are in most cases piloted commercial airplanes and there is no indication of any foreign connection or threat to the public.
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The FBI said it has compared the flight patterns of the region;s three major commercial airports - Newark Liberty, JFK and LaGuardia - to the locations of reported drone sightings, and they match up in most cases. So most sightings of aircraft were mistaken for drones.
..... An FBI official who spoke on background reported that of the approximately 5,000 tips the agency has received about drone activity in New Jersey, fewer than 100 were found to be worth further investigation.
..... "We can't ignore the sightings that have been there, and we are concerned about those just as much as anybody else," the FBI official said during the briefing. "We're doing our best to find the origin of that specific with those drone activities, but I think there has been a slight overreaction.
..... The ground rules for Saturday's [12/14/2024] media briefing, organized by the National Security Council, said speaker could be identified by their agency but not their name.
..... An official from the Defense Department said there have been confirmed drone sightings over Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County and Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County. The sightings were visually made form the ground by trained security at each facility. But the official said there is no indication that these sightings, or any of the other reported sightings, had malicious intent or were aligned with foreign entities.
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"They're all visual, but they are by our highly trained security personnel. This is not a new issue for us," the Defense Department official said. "We've had to deal with drone incursions over our bases for quite a time now."
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"We don't know the operators or the points of origin," he said. "We don't know if it's malicious. It is irresponsible."
..... Reports of alleged drone activity began in New Jersey on November 18 [2024] when the New Jersey Suspicious Activity Reporting System received several reports of unidentified and unknown unmanned aircraft systems.
..... FBI Newark officials opened an investigation into the sightings on November 20, [2024] when members of the New Jersey State Police reported a drone sighting, an official said during the briefing.
....."The FBI will continue to investigate all allegations of criminal activity that involves" unmanned aerial systems "and will continue to work our partners to defend and disrupt criminal activity and national security threats," the FBI official said.
..... The FBI has bough equipment into New Jersey to track drone activity and has consulted with experts in the field,the FBI official said. the agency has conducted dozens of interviews and analyzed videos. The FBI official said most sightings have been made from the ground, and there have been very few made form pilots of manned aircraft.
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"We have not found evidence of large scale" unmanned aerial systems in New Jersey, he said.
..... An official with the Department of Homeland Security said the Coast Guard has found no evidence of any foreign-based vessel sending drones toward the New Jersey coast. He said agents have been using drone-specif radar that can identify and track drones and determine whether they are carrying any payloads, and so far they have not detected anything unusual.
..... An official with the federal Aviation Administrators said it is legal in most U.S. locations to fly drones in the day and night below 400 feet while keeping them in sight and avoiding restricted air space.
..... The FAA on November 20 [2024] put a temporary flight restriction in place around Picatinny Arsenal of 2 nautical miles and 2,000feet. It expires on December 26 [2024] but can be extended.
..... The agency also imposed a temporary flight restriction over the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster of 1 nautical mile and 1,000 feet, starting N0vember 22. [2024] It expires
December 20 [2024] but can be extended as well.