The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned New Jersey residents against shooting at mysterious unidentified drones or “pointing lasers at manned aircraft.”
In a post on X, the FBI Newark Field Office and the New Jersey State Police (NJSP) issued a joint statement revealing that there had been an increase in people hitting pilots of manned aircraft in the eyes “with lasers.”
The statement from the FBI’s Newark Field Office and the NJSP comes as people in states such as New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland have claimed to have seen mysterious unidentified drones in the sky. The drones have also reportedly been spotted above Picatinny Arsenal military base and President-elect Donald Trump’s golf club located in Bedminster.
“FBI Newark and New Jersey State Police want to warn the public about an increase in pilots of manned aircraft being hit in the eyes with lasers because people on the ground think they see an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). There is also a concern with people possibly firing weapons at what they believe to be a UAS but could be a manned aircraft,”
“FBI Newark, NJSP, and dozens of other agencies and law enforcement partners have been out every night for several weeks to legally track down operators acting illegally or with nefarious intent and using every available tool and piece of equipment to find the answers the public is seeking,” the statement continued. “However, there could be dangerous and possibly deadly consequences if manned aircraft are targeted mistakenly as UAS.”
The statement from the FBI’s Newark Field Office and NJSP comes as Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) revealed on Monday that over the weekend he had received “three sophisticated systems from the federal government” in an effort to help “monitor the skies and identify unmanned aircraft,” according to 6ABC News.
In response to the alleged ongoing sightings of mysterious unidentified drones, several New Jersey lawmakers such as New Jersey state Sen. Jon Bramnick (R) and Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. (R-NJ) have called for the government to take action.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) also alleged that “Iran was responsible for the number of drone sightings” occurring on the East Coast of the U.S., and that there was a “mothership.” The Pentagon denied Van Drew’s claim that there was a “mothership” located off the coast of the U.S.
Over the weekend Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) called for the Department of Homeland Security “to deploy special detection systems” to help identify the reported claims of drone sightings.
