NJ Officials Sound New Alarm on Mystery Drones as Pentagon Denies ‘Mothership’ Claim

Multiple drones are seen over Bernardsville, N.J., on Dec. 5, 2024 Brian Glenn/TMX via AP

More elected officials in New Jersey have sounded the alarm about drones of unknown origin spotted over the state as the Pentagon has denied they are being deployed by Iran.

The mayor of Montvale, Mike Ghassali, wrote on Thursday morning that the “drone mystery [is] not solved” and that more drones were spotted over Montvale and the nearby Upper Saddle River on Wednesday night.

“I do feel uneasy knowing that we can’t track their frequencies, unless these drones are fully autonomous and using a new frequency range outside the currently allowed limits,” he wrote in a Facebook statement. “That is a problem. They should still be registered and report their location at all times.”

Another official, state Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, said Wednesday that “we know nothing,” emphasizing her point with a “PERIOD” at the end of her statement.

“To state that there is no known or credible threat is incredibly misleading, and I informed all officials of that sentiment,” she wrote on social media, saying she is informing the public after leaving a meeting with New Jersey State Police officials.

Her statement added that “military intervention is the only path forward” in this circumstance. “There will be no answers in the absence of proactivity,” she continued.

So far, neither the Department of Defense (DOD) nor the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) nor other federal agencies have identified the origin of the drones or what they’re doing.

Reports of the unmanned aerial vehicles over the state first surfaced in late November. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) said that he received information from “very high sources” in the government that they might be Iranian in origin.

“Iran launched a mothership probably about a month ago that contains these drones. That mothership is off the east coast of the United States of America,” he said on Fox News this week, noting that he belongs to multiple House committees on aviation and transportation.

Van Drew’s remarks prompted a response from Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh during a news conference on Wednesday.

“There is not any truth to that. There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States,” Singh told reporters, responding to a question about the phenomenon.

“Our initial assessment here is that these are not drones or activities coming from a foreign entity or adversary,” she said, according to a transcript released by the DOD.

On Thursday, Van Drew told Fox News that Singh’s comment was inappropriate and an “incredibly weak” response to the Iran concerns. The drones, he said, are “much more sophisticated” than commercial drones, reiterating that high-level officials told him about a drone mothership near the East Coast.

“These drones are sophisticated systems ... ones that we don’t have,” he said. “We need some real, substantive answers.”

In a previous social media post on X, Fantasia described the drones as up to 6 feet in diameter and sometimes traveling with their lights switched off. The devices do not appear to be being flown by hobbyists, Fantasia wrote.

Dozens of mysterious nighttime flights started last month and have raised growing concern among residents and officials. Part of the worry stems from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility, as well as near President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster.

Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use but are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations and flight restrictions, and operators must be FAA-certified.

Gov. Phil Murphy and law enforcement officials have stressed that the drones don’t appear to threaten public safety.

A document that was recently released by Homeland Security said that the FBI has been investigating and has asked residents to share any videos, photos, or other information they may have.

“There is an active federal investigation into these drone sightings,” DHS said in its report, adding, “Currently, all investigative information is classified as law enforcement sensitive, and we would defer questions regarding the investigation to the FBI.”

But that report stressed that it is currently “unclear who is operating the drones” over New Jersey, adding that state agencies are not involved in their operation.

Responding to a question about the military or the agency taking action against a drone, DHS said that federal agencies or the military must first determine whether the drones are a threat.

“Shooting down a drone can pose safety risks to people and property on the ground. Debris from a downed drone can cause injury or damage, especially in populated areas,” the DHS report said. “Engaging a drone involves legal considerations. Unauthorized actions could have legal repercussions.”

The Associated Press contributes to this report.