By Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In New Jersey, local lawmakers and officials are pleading for answers and assistance from the federal government after several mysterious drone sightings in recent weeks.
The sightings are receiving a lot of attention this week in Washington as federal officials and lawmakers begin to weigh in.
Calls for more information and answers are intensifying on Capitol Hill. But those answers and more clarity are just as elusive as these large, mysterious drones, which were first spotted in November.
“Our initial assessment here is that these are not drones or activities coming from a foreign entity or adversary,” said Sabrina Singh, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary, on Wednesday.
Like New Jersey residents, defense officials and lawmakers are at odds about what appear to be car-sized drones in the skies over New Jersey and parts of eastern Pennsylvania.
“They need to be identified, found out the determination of who put them up there. And those people need to be prosecuted,” said Rep. Jack Bergman (R- MI), a retired Lt. General in the United States Marine Corps, who worked as a commercial airline pilot for 22 years.
“We need to know exactly what’s in our airspace at whatever altitude, at any given time,” said Bergman.
Bergman serves as co-chair of the Congressional Aviation Safety Caucus and says it’s up to the current administration to step in, and quickly.
“If we’re not doing it right now, who’s ever in charge of the government today, it’s on their back and they need to step up,” said Bergman.
Thursday, the White House told reporters that the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS), the FBI and state and local law enforcement “have not been able to corroborate any of the reported visual sightings.”
“To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully,” said John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Advisor.
Recent reported sightings near critical infrastructure, including a reservoir and a military research facility- as well as over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, NJ- have prompted the FAA to issue temporary flight restrictions over those properties.
Thursday afternoon, senators from New York and New Jersey, including Sens. Chuck Schumer (D- NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D- NY), sent a letter the FBI, DHS and the FAA requesting a briefing on the drone activity and how the agencies are working with law enforcement to get to the bottom of the aerial mystery.
