Reports of unidentified drones in New Jersey are consuming lawmakers at the state and federal levels

A US senator has called for mysterious drones spotted flying over sensitive areas in New Jersey and other parts of the mid-Atlantic region to be “shot down” if necessary, although it remains unclear who owns them.

“We must do some very urgent intelligence analysis and get them out of the sky, especially if they are flying over airports or military bases,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Thursday as concerns about drones spread across Capitol Hill.

He added that people in the New York area are also concerned that drones may be sharing airspace with commercial airlines, calling on the Biden administration for more transparency.

The White House said there was no evidence of a threat to national security or public safety. John Kirby, White House national security spokesman, said no sightings have been reported in any restricted airspace. He said the US Coast Guard did not detect any foreign involvement from coastal vessels.

“Using highly sophisticated electronic detection techniques provided by federal authorities, neither we nor state or local law enforcement authorities have been able to confirm any of the reported visual sightings,” Kirby said. “On the contrary, after reviewing available images, it appears that many of the reported sightings are in fact manned and legally operated aircraft.”

Iran’s “mother ship” claims have been criticized

The FBI conducted an investigation and asked residents to share any videos, photos or other information about the drones. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on Wednesday that they were not US military drones.

Singh rejected claims by a US lawmaker that Iran may be launching drones over New Jersey from a “mother ship.”

She added: “There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there is no so-called mother ship launching drones toward the United States.”

Jeff Van Drew, a member of the House of Representatives who switched from Democrats to the Republican Party in 2020, said he had uncovered what appeared to be an Iranian plot.

“What we discovered is alarming – drones flying from the direction of the ocean, possibly linked to the missing Iranian mothership,” he said on social media platform X.

Van Drew did not provide further evidence for his assertions in an interview with Fox News on Thursday in which he criticized the Pentagon.

“We’re not being told the truth,” Van Drew responded Thursday on Fox News, saying. “They treat the American public like we’re stupid.”

The number of sightings has increased in recent days, although officials say many of the objects seen may have been planes rather than drones. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said in a regular local radio appearance Wednesday evening that a single drone would likely be reported more than once.

Murphy said that only federal authorities have the authority to shoot down any vehicle, and he suggested that Van Drew was irresponsible with those comments.

“I’m not sure what he’s been watching lately, but he might want to watch the news,” Murphy said. “Israel has beheaded Iran, and through economic sanctions, I don’t think they have boats off the coast of Iran right now. Let’s not create that fear.”

Lawmakers are frustrated

The concern stems in part from flying objects that were initially spotted near Picatinny Arsenal, a US military research and manufacturing facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster.

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Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use but are subject to local and federal aviation authority regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be FAA certified.

Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey said he was frustrated by the lack of transparency.

“We must know what is happening above our skies,” Booker said Thursday.

“It allows a lot of potential misinformation or at least fear to spread,” he added.

Fantasia, a Republican from Morris County, was among several lawmakers who met with state police and Homeland Security officials to discuss sightings from the New York City area across New Jersey and westward to parts of Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia.

Jersey Shore Republican Congressman Chris Smith said a commanding officer with the U.S. Coast Guard briefed him on a weekend incident in which dozens of drones followed a Coast Guard motor lifeboat “in close pursuit” near Barnegat Light and Island Beach State Park into the ocean. . province.