“More resources” are needed to understand the reports of drone activity in New Jersey airspace, Gov. Phil Murphy (D) said in a letter to President Joe Biden, urging the federal government to “uncover answers.”
“I write with growing concern about reports of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in and around New Jersey airspace,” Murphy begins in the December 12 letter addressed to President Biden amid reports of mystery drones flying over parts of New Jersey and the northeast U.S. over the past few weeks.
Murphy reminds Biden in the letter that while UAS have “become a standard feature of American life over the last decade,” New Jersey State Police have received reports of UAS sightings for the last several 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,” he wrote.
“This week the FBI testified in a joint subcommittee hearing before Congress that the federal government alone cannot address UAS. New Jersey residents deserve more concrete information about these UAS sightings and what is causing them,” he continued, noting that the “continued reporting of UAS activity has raised more questions than answers and prompted an outcropping of conspiracy theories across social media and other platforms.”
As such, Murphy is asking Biden to “continue to direct the federal agencies involved to work together until they uncover answers as to what is behind the UAS sightings.”
“I also wrote to @SenSchumer, @SpeakerJohnson, @LeaderMcConnell, and @RepJeffries regarding the imminent lapse of @DHSgov and @FBI’s counter-unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) authority on December 20 and to encourage Congress to pass legislation empowering state and local law enforcement entities to use advanced detection and mitigation technologies to deal with UAS,” Murphy added on social media:
On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) issued a joint statement on drone sightings, failing to provide details but asserting that they do not believe they pose a national security threat.
“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus,” the statement read in part.
All the while, the Pentagon has denied claims that alleged drone sightings are controlled by the U.S. military. It also denied that they are foreign-controlled.
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