Drone Sightings Spread To Other States As Politicians Demand Answers

A mystery that started in New Jersey last month has begun to spread, with residents in Maryland, New York and Connecticut and apparently even an officer aboard a U.S. Coast Guard vessel now reporting nighttime drone sightings.

On Friday, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan shared a video taken from his residence in Davidsonville of what he said “appeared to be dozens of large drones” the night before. Hogan said he watched them for about 45 minutes.

The unsteady, two-minute video flits between several bright blips in the distance, but it’s difficult to get a good look as the camera goes in and out of focus.

In a statement accompanying the video, Hogan called the federal response “entirely unacceptable.”

“The government has the ability to track these from their point of origin but has mounted a negligent response,” he said. “People are rightfully clamoring for answers, but aren’t getting any.”

Connecticut State Police troopers said Friday they’d also received reports of drones in Fairfield County and sent a drone detection system to investigate. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), meanwhile, called for the drones to be “shot down, if necessary.”

And New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) acknowledged reports of drones there this week as well. In a statement, Hochul echoed the refrain that “there’s no evidence that these drones pose a public safety or national security threat.”

In one of the more intriguing encounters, according to Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), an unnamed commanding officer in the U.S. Coast Guard told him that a 47-foot vessel was “trailed very closely by more than a dozen” drones earlier this week off the New Jersey coast.

The Coast Guard did not respond to a request from HuffPost for more information about the incident, including verification it occurred.

Michael Melham, the mayor of Belleville, New Jersey, said Friday that the state has instructed firefighters to wear hazmat suits if they respond to reports of a downed drone.

“First of all, if there is a downed drone in our vicinity, we are immediately to call the bomb squad of our county,” Melham told Fox News. “And second, our fire department has been instructed to make sure they wear hazmat suits.”

The reasoning for the guidance, Melham said, is that nobody knows if the drones are carrying a payload or not.

Reports of one such downed drone in New Jersey sent first responders scrambling Friday morning ― but no drone was found.

In sharp contrast to the local reports, the federal officials investigating them aren’t sure there’s actually anything amiss.

At a White House briefing Thursday, national security communications adviser John Kirby dismissed the reports of drones as “uncorroborated.” What people believe to be drones, he said, are actually “manned aircraft” that are “being operated lawfully.”

He did acknowledge that the reports have exposed “a gap in authorities” and urged Congress to clarify responsibility for counter-drone responses.

The Pentagon also threw cold water on a claim Wednesday by Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) that the drones are being launched from an Iranian “mothership” in the Atlantic.

“There is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement from coastal vessels,” Kirby said.

“Historically, we have experienced cases of mistaken identity, where reported drones are, in fact, manned aircraft or facilities. We are supporting local law enforcement in New Jersey with numerous detection methods but have not corroborated any of the reported visual sightings with electronic detection,” a joint statement Thursday from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI said.

“To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully. There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space.”

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