The mysterious drone swarms that have been seen over New Jersey over the past month have now spread to Maryland, an unnamed FBI official confirmed in a Dec. 14 press call.
“Like many who have observed these drones, I do not know if this increasing activity over our skies is a threat to public safety or national security,” Hogan wrote in an accompanying post.
“The government has the ability to track these from their point of origin but has mounted a negligent response. People are rightfully clamoring for answers, but aren’t getting any.”
While some users on X speculated whether the lights in Hogan’s video could be stars in the Orion constellation, an FBI official confirmed in an interagency press call on Saturday that drone sightings had spread to Maryland, but stopped short of saying they were directly connected to the original reports in New Jersey.
“There’s no confirmation that any of those [initial reports] are linked to anything that’s being observed throughout the country, or at other locations,” the official said.
“I don’t want to cause alarm and panic, but we can’t ignore the sightings that have been there, and we are concerned about those just as much as anybody else [who’s a] resident here of New Jersey,” he added.
The official said the FBI is conducting an ongoing investigation into the origin of the sightings.
In his post on Friday, Hogan criticized the government’s response to public reporting of alleged drone activity.
“We are being told that neither the White House, the military, the FBI, or Homeland Security have any idea what they are, where they came from, or who has launched or is controlling them–and that they pose no threat,” Hogan said.
“That response is entirely unacceptable. I join with the growing bipartisan chorus of leaders demanding that the federal government immediately address this issue.
“The American people deserve answers and action now.”
Government Responds
During the press call on Saturday, officials from the FBI, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Pentagon, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) commented on the government response to the sightings.The FBI official, who confirmed sightings had spread to Maryland, said that “without a doubt” drones, or unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), had been seen over New Jersey, but suggested they could be any of the “nearly a million registered UAS in the United States.”
“National Airspace is designed to be as minimally restrictive as possible, all indications are these UAS operators are operating in the parameters established for their use in that airspace,” the FBI official said. “This is not to say the FBI does not believe UAS is used for criminal or other nefarious activity.”
There’s no “current evidence that there’s a threat to public safety” from the alleged drones, according to a DHS official, who added that the U.S. Coast Guard and its partners had determined that there is no evidence of any “foreign-based involvement in sending drones ashore from marine vessels in the area.”
An official from the FAA said the aircraft had been seen over Picatinny Arsenal and the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, and the FAA has created two temporary air restrictions over both locations. The restriction over President-elect Donald Trump’s club expires on Dec. 20 but may be extended, the FAA official said.
There were also confirmed sightings over the Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey, according to a Pentagon official.
New Jersey Leaders Give Drone Update
While speaking to reporters on Saturday, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) called the New Jersey drone sightings a “very considerable danger.”He criticized remarks from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who said the sightings do not present anything unusual, and White House national security communications advisor John Kirby, who said they are not a threat to the United States.
Smith said, “How can anyone speculate or issue assurances to thousands … who have witnessed the drones that there is no threat?”
“For weeks, we’ve asked for the truth and action to mitigate any and all threats to people and property. Now we are demanding it as sightings have increased, including by service members at Naval Weapons Station Earle,” he said.
The congressman said he is now working on a bill to “empower the state police to seriously protect at-risk persons and infrastructure, and if necessary, bring down a dangerous drone or drones.”
Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said one of the drones caught on video appeared to be traveling at roughly 60 miles per hour; much faster than his department’s police drones, which can only travel around 40 miles per hour.
In another report, roughly 50 drones were reportedly seen “coming off the ocean,” Mastronardy said.
He added that some of the reports do not correlate to flight radar data, indicating that some must be something other than misidentified commercial aircraft.
“We got to get some answers,” Mastronardy said.
