Drones pose 'considerable danger,' will push for new legislation: NJ official

Sheriffs and other local officials in New Jersey demanded more action from the federal government Saturday in getting to the bottom of a spate of drone sightings that has bedeviled authorities and sparked alarm among residents.

At a news conference in Seaside Heights, New Jersey, on Saturday, Rep. Chris Smith, (R-N.J.) said he's working on legislation to give state and local authorities more power to track and potentially bring down aerial drones.

Smith said that New Jersey officials are demanding more action from federal partners, calling the drones a "very considerable danger."

During the news conference, the congressman described concerning sightings over the past few weeks by law enforcement officers and military personnel.

"This crisis really is the ultimate wake-up call to threats posed by potentially hostile drones," he said.

Federal officials have repeatedly stressed that there is no evidence any of the reported drones pose a national security or public safety threat or have any foreign connections.

In a call with reporters on Sunday, an FBI official said federal authorities are investigating the New Jersey sightings but that, out of nearly 5,000 tips the agency has received, fewer than 100 have generated credible leads for further investigation.

An official with the Department of Homeland said many of the reported sightings appear to be manned aircraft that have been misidentified as drones. Overall, there are 1 million registered drones in the U.S. and minimal rules about flying them during the day or night as long as they stay below 400 feet, an official with the Federal Aviation Administration told reporters.

Sightings in New Jersey

During the news conference on Saturday with local New Jersey officials, Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said that a New Jersey officer last weekend reported seeing roughly 50 drones coming from the ocean to the mainland, entering the Seaside area. After this sighting, multiple partners were notified, including New Jersey State Police, the Coast Guard, and FBI.

"There is no way, absolutely, that these were any hobbyist drones. They were something far above and beyond that," Seaside Park Mayor John Peterson Jr. said. "These issues are very, very concerning, and the response from the federal government is very, very insulting."

The sheriff said his office was working to document all the drone sightings to understand "if there's anything happening off the coast of New Jersey," adding, "But you know, obviously there's a lot of tension to this matter throughout."

In another sighting recounted by the congressman, he said that he spoke to personnel with the U.S. Coast Guard who reported that a rescue boat was followed by a drone that was in close proximity to the vessel.

"Why can't we bag at least one of these drones?" Smith said. "Why can't we even track them?"

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden pushed for legislation to provide drone technology to states and to expand the rights of state officials to take action.

"We need to have our legislation keep pace with the laws and the operation of drones," Golden said. "We know that the FAA and the federal government is solely in charge of the airways and the drone operations. As we see it today, we're calling upon Congress, and Congressman Smith is leading the way to modify legislation so that not just three federal agencies are able to have drone detection."

"For Washington to just shunt off those types of issues and say it's all planes, right, is not good enough," Golden said.

New Jersey senator: 'Almost certainly planes'

Separately, New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim posted on social media platform X that he went out on a "drone patrol" with local law enforcement Thursday night, visiting multiple locations in Hunterdon County, and sharing several photos of unexplained and unidentified drones.

However, in a follow-up post on Saturday, he said that based on further analysis of flight data he concluded: "The possible drone sightings pointed out to me were almost certainly planes."

Still, he said the federal government needs to do a better job of sharing information with the public and being more responsive to their concerns.

The news conference with the New Jersey officials came the day after an airport in New York -- Stewart International Airport, located roughly 60 miles north of New York City -- shut down its runways for an hour after the Federal Aviation Administration alerted them that a drone was spotted in the area around 9:30 p.m.

"This has gone too far," Gov. Kathy Hochul said in response, requesting the federal government to step in.