The Hill: NJ governor asks Biden for more federal resources on drone sightings

[Dennis Donovan]

The Hill - NJ governor asks Biden for more federal resources on drone sightings

by Filip Timotija - 12/13/24 1:31 PM ET

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) asked President Biden for more federal resources to respond to the mysterious drone sightings in the Garden State over the past few weeks.

“While I am sincerely grateful for your administration’s leadership in addressing this concerning issue, it has become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity,” Murphy wrote in a Thursday letter to the president.

“New Jersey residents deserve more concrete information about these UAS sightings and what is causing them,” he wrote in the letter, using an acronym for unmanned aircraft systems. “The continued reporting of UAS activity has raised more questions than answers and prompted an outcropping of conspiracy theories on social media and other online platforms.”

Murphy requested additional assistance from the federal government with current laws restricting what local and state law officials can do about the large drones spotted flying above New Jersey’s skies.

Apart from New Jersey, sightings of drones have been reported in other states such as New York and Maryland. Senators representing New Jersey and New York have issued a letter directed to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI, asking for a briefing on the matter that has alarmed residents in their states.

/snip

[Xoan]

1. ARE THEY ILLEGAL?

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Depends on what airspace they're violating...

According to this CNN article from today, they aren't violating airspace:

Officials said sighted drones have been observed with FAA-required anticollision lights and are not believed to have entered any restricted airspaces, according to the source.

Sounds like they're not breaking any laws. They're just freaking people out.

[Lulu KC]

3. Coincidence? No idea.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/dec/13/germany-drones-air-base

Unidentified drones have been sighted over sensitive industry locations and the US air base at Ramstein in Germany in recent weeks, the Spiegel news magazine reported on Friday, citing a confidential report by German security authorities.

The report flagged numerous drone sightings made in the evening hours of 3 and 4 December over the air base, according to Spiegel.

A security source told Reuters the report on drone sightings over Ramstein was correct. The German defence ministry declined to comment on the report.

German intelligence chiefs have warned that the country’s support for Ukraine in its war with Russia makes it a target of possible sabotage attempts, with recent security incidents at military barracks raising alarm further.