‘Shoot them down already!’: NJ legislators frustrated by State Police drone briefing
Despite weeks of investigation, New Jersey authorities still don’t know where the mystery drones are coming from, who’s operating them, or where they are taking off or landing from, state lawmakers were told at a briefing Wednesday.
"The one thing that I feel confident about coming out of that briefing is that the federal and state governments know very little about the situation," said Assemblyman Paul Kanitra, R-Ocean. "Every single person [at the briefing] was varying degrees of irate, angry, horrified and scared."
“We know nothing. PERIOD,” said Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, R-Sussex, in a post on X, the social media platform, after the meeting. “To state that there is no known or credible threat is incredibly misleading.”
At a closed-door briefing about the drones at State Police headquarters Wednesday morning, lawmakers were told that investigators have been unable to electronically detect the drones, which were first spotted over New Jersey on Nov. 18 and have been spotted every night since, with anywhere from four to 180 sightings each night.
The large drones, which are 6 feet in diameter, only fly at night, from dusk to 11 p.m., and stay up for six to seven hours at a time, lawmakers said.
“They didn’t rule anything out,” said Assemblyman Greg Myhre, R-Ocean, whose 9th District includes Island Beach State Park and Long Beach Island. “They don’t know what they are. They are concerned without a doubt. But I’m coming away with more questions than answers.”
The drones appear to operate in a coordinated manner, but the lights are turned off at night. They are difficult to detect by traditional means such as radio frequencies and helicopters, Fantasia said, recounting the briefing.
Lawmakers were told by a representative of Murphy’s Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness that there is no known credible threat from the drones, but the key word is "known," Kanitra said.
"You could also just as easily say there is no known guarantee of safety," he said. "It's the exact same thing as them saying there is no known credible threat."
The drones turn their lights off when approached and have gone over restricted air space, both FAA violations, Kanitra said. He is concerned it could be a foreign adversary.
“The fact that they are shutting them off (the drone’s lights) when being approached, I think, concerns us all,”said Assemblyman Alex Sauickie, R-Ocean.
“Shoot them down already!” said Assemblyman Greg McGuckin, R-Ocean.
“This is like the Chinese balloon all over again. How long are we going to wait while unknown actors perform reconnaissance over our critical infrastructure facilities and neighborhoods?” McGuckin said. “If it was anyone with a legitimate purpose they certainly would have come forward by now.”
State police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawmakers’ concerns.
The mystery of the unidentified drones has gripped the public. On Tuesday, federal officials admitted during a congressional hearing that despite repeated assurances from Gov. Phil Murphy and other public officials, they can’t say definitively whether the drones pose a threat.
“There is nothing known that would lead me to say that but we just don’t know and that’s the concerning part,” Robert Wheeler, assistant FBI director, said during the congressional hearing.
Myhre said the state police assured lawmakers they were working 24/7 to solve the drone mystery. But they admitted they didn’t have all the tools that were needed.
Myhre said he appreciated that authorities were honest about what they don’t know, but “it’s not terribly reassuring.”
“It wasn’t like they said, ‘Don’t worry about it,” Myhre said.
Ocean County has been a hotbed of drone activity. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said Tuesday that he was told that 50 drones flew in from the ocean at Island Beach State Park on Sunday night, the same night that a 47-foot Coast Guard boat was trailed by 12 to 30 drones while out at sea.
Drones over New Jersey
Officials said the lack of detection capability against the drones is a significant concern.
Among the challenges lawmakers were told that authorities face is that current radio frequencies do not pick up drone signals. The State Police deployed helicopters over Raritan Bay but could not detect drones, even with infrared cameras, according to Kanitra.
As a result, State Police Col. Pat Callahan halted the helicopter deployments, citing concerns about potential danger, he said.
Federal officials said they sent the state the most sophisticated piece of detection equipment they have, which still could not detect the drones.
It is called an electro-optical infrared camera, which can detect a drone within one to two miles and has the ability to see in the dark via heat spots, Kanitra relayed. It's the latest kit they have but was taken out of service and sent back to be retrofitted after being unsuccessful in detections.
Now, they're trying to add drone-specific radar to it and believe it should be operational again in a few days, Kanitra said. Then, they'll send it back to New Jersey.
To operate a drone at night, it must keep its light on, Sauickie said. The device is also supposed to have a transponder and be registered with the Federal Aviation Administration, he said.
In addition, while the FAA made drone night flights legal in 2023, the agency requires operators to maintain line of sight, but that is not happening with these drone night flights, Fantasia said.
Fantasia noted that state authorities, including State Police, are “shackled” with what they are able to do.
Any interception or takedown of any (drone) is under the strict jurisdiction of the federal government, Kanitra said.
“You had the State Police basically saying their hands are tied in what they're able to do,” Sauickie said. “For example, if they engaged one of these things and felt they needed to shoot one down or take it out in some way, they are telling us that they cannot do that.”
One thing lawmakers learned was that drones weren’t just a New Jersey problem: Drones have also been spotted in Virginia, California and South Carolina.
Among the next steps, Fantasia said, include in-person counter-unmanned aircraft systems training, which will start in Monmouth County in January and then expand statewide. A dashboard is being developed for tracking and managing drone sightings, Fantasia said.
Kanitra said this feels eerily very similar to when COVID pandemic hit, where they didn't have a plan and were making it up as they went.
Officials also urged lawmakers to push Congress to pass existing bills on drone regulation, which have been stalled, and to continue to encourage the public to report sightings.
"It seems like it's going to take an incident," Kanitra said. "It's unacceptable to me...how little that we know considering what we spend on defense capabilities."
The agencies who attended the briefing included the FBI, the lead agency, New Jersey State Police, state Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness and the U.S. Coast Guard.
Sauickie said he was disappointed that Murphy did not attend Wednesday’s hearing with the State Police.
Both Republicans and Democrats in the Statehouse “see this as a serious concern for our constituents,” said Sauickie. “Our constituents are all across the state looking for definitive answers on this.”
Myher said he was “going to be closely monitoring this and stay in contact with the State Police, the sheriff and federal authorities to keep the people in my district updated.”
“I don’t think this will be solved tomorrow.”