FBI, FAA, and federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials believe the vast majority of sightings of mysterious drones on the U.S. East Coast are “cases of mistaken identity.”
Agency officials on Saturday addressed reporters at a White House briefing, concluding that there is no evidence of “large-scale UAS [uncrewed aircraft systems] activities.”
“You can’t ignore the sightings that have been there, and we are concerned about those just as much as anybody else is,” the FBI official said. “But I think there has been a slight overreaction.”
The agencies believe many witnesses on the ground have been misidentifying normal, crewed airplanes as drones. The UAS may even be drones flying legally. The FAA has registered nearly 800,000 of them, about half of which are recreational models flown by hobbyists, such as for photography.
The FAA earlier this month told FLYING it first received reports of unusual drone activity on November 18. “At the request of federal security partners,” it said, the regulator implemented temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) at Picatinny Arsenal Military Base and President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course. The TFRs expire later this month but could be extended, and the agency is seeking a “permanent restriction” at Picatinny Arsenal, a spokesperson said Saturday.
The FBI official said the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness also received initial reports on November 18, and the agency’s Newark office began investigating that week.
A department of defense (DOD) joint staff official, meanwhile, confirmed the drone sighting at Picatinny Arsenal—as well as another at Naval Weapons Station Earle in Central New Jersey—by “highly trained security personnel.” They said rogue drones flying over military bases are not uncommon but that it requires close coordination with local law enforcement to determine where they launched from, or who is flying them. So far, that investigation has come up empty.
“We don’t know what the activity is,” the joint staff official said. “We don’t know if it is malicious, if it is criminal, but I will tell you that it is irresponsible. And, you know, here on the military side, we are just as frustrated with the irresponsible nature of this activity.”
A New Jersey lawmaker last week shared details of a meeting of hundreds of mayors with DHS officials, whom she said described the drones they are investigating as about 6 feet in diameter, durable, and traveling in small clusters. But out of 5,000 tips the FBI has received, fewer than 100 have been “deemed worthy of further investigative activity,” the agency official said Saturday.
“In overlaying the visual sightings reported to the FBI with approach patterns for Newark-Liberty [International (KEWR)], [John F. Kennedy International (KJFK)], and LaGuardia [International (KLGA)] airports, the density of reported sightings matches the approach patterns of these very busy airports, with flights coming in throughout the night,” the official said. “This modeling is indicative of manned aviation being quite often mistaken for unmanned aviation or UAS.”
Senator Andy Kim (D-N.J.), for example, acknowledged that the aircraft he and local law enforcement hunted last week were most likely normal planes flying into one of these airports. The FBI suggested that many of the actual drones spotted may have been flying legally within FAA parameters.
“Federal experts should provide information and guidance to the public including local police departments like the one that took me out to help them decipher what they are seeing,” Kim said in a post on X. “Instead myself and others requesting are getting no feedback.”
Spurred largely by social media videos and unconfirmed reports, the frenzy around the mysterious drones—and the perceived lack of a federal response—has led some high-profile public figures to call for drastic action.
Trump, for instance, posted on his social media platform, Truth Social: “Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!”
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) also called for the drones to be “shot down, if necessary.”
The ability to shoot down or jam drone communications, however, is a privilege granted only to the federal government. State or local law enforcement or individuals who do so could face FAA penalties or criminal charges at the federal, state, or local level. The provision is intended to avoid civilians from creating a dangerous situation, where a drone becomes a projectile as it tumbles out of the sky.
“The administration has been seeking, for several years now, additional authorities to expand the counter-UAS authorities, both of the federal government, which are themselves very limited, and also to give state and local authorities the authority to use certain C-UAS technologies with federal oversight,” a senior Biden administration official said Saturday.
Citizens attempting to shoot down a drone could also inadvertently meddle with aircraft flying legally. The FAA, for example, told FLYING it has received multiple laser reports from pilots flying in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, though the agency did not say whether they are related to the recent drone sightings. The FBI official on Saturday said reports in other states have not been confirmed to be related to those in New Jersey and its neighbors.
The DHS official said the agency is devoting “significant resources,” including advanced camera and radar equipment, to New Jersey and other state law enforcement.
“At the same time, it’s important to understand that we don’t have any current evidence that there’s a threat to public safety,” the official said. “That does not mean that we’re dismissing all reports as noncredible, but it does help us understand that the amount of actual drone activity is likely less than what’s being reported.”
An FAA spokesperson told FLYING that the agency continues to monitor drone sightings across the Northeast, but there has been no increase in reports from pilots or airports.
Still, some state and local officials have asked for more. New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Saturday revealed that drone activity caused a one-hour runway closure at New York Stewart Airport (KSWF) and demanded further federal assistance. In response, the government told Hochul it will deploy what the governor described as a “state-of-the-art drone detection system.”
“This has gone too far,” Hochul said.
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