As thousands of tips have been flying into the FBI, federal officials say there is nothing to worry about concerning what appear to be drones flying over New Jersey and surrounding areas.
The FBI said that it had received more than 5,000 reported drone sightings over the past month, USA Today reported.
Drones were reportedly flying near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The base said they were unmanned and were various sizes and configurations, WHIO reported. The base said its “airspace was not affected by the incursions.”
On Friday, the base had to shut down air operations for almost four hours because of unmanned aircraft flying near the area.
The reports generated 100 tips according to a joint statement by the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, FAA and the Pentagon.
The government has deployed advanced detection technology and trained visual observers to try to pin down what is flying over the Garden State.
The statement claims that the aircraft were identified as “a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and stars mistakenly reported as drones,” adding, that there is no risk to national security or public safety, USA Today reported.
Still, the statement requested Congress to pass legislation that would greenlight counter-unmanned aircraft systems which would “extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge,” Forbes reported.
But not everyone thinks there isn’t something strange going on.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Sen. Andy Kim have gone on what The Associated Press called a drone hunt looking for answers.
Still, Murphy also says that there was no threat to public safety.
The drones had been reported flying near Picatinny Arsenal, a military research and manufacturing facility, as well as President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster property, the AP reported.
Trump said during a news conference Monday, “Something strange is going on. For some reason, they don’t want to tell the people.”
Speaking from his property Mar-a-Lago in Florida, he said, “They’re very close to Bedminster. I think maybe I won’t spend the weekend in Bedminster. I’ve decided to cancel my trip,” NBC News reported.
He did not say if he had been briefed about the situation.
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