Drones latest: New Jersey airspace closes to drones as officials try to slow number of sightings

Westchester County Executive George Latimer has called on President Biden to take immediate action to address “fear and concern” regarding recent drone sightings over New York.

“Residents are worried that their government is unable to identify these drones; they express trepidation over holiday travel to see and receive family, particularly from the Westchester County Airport, after Stewart International Airport in Orange County was shut down for an hour due to concerns over these drones,” Latimer wrote in a Monday letter. “Our residents are in need of more information regarding these drones.”

He also expressed his support for Sen. Chuck Schumer’s proposal to deploy advanced drone detection technology.

“The sum concern are the visual confirmed sights by military and first responders,” Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden told CBS Mornings in a clip that aired on Wednesday.

“The bigger concern over that is [that] we don’t have any identification on any of it,” he added.

Iowa Republican Rep. Zach Nunn is pinning drone “hysteria” on the Biden administration.

“I think that there’s a real hysteria around here, but I blame that right back on the White House,” he told ABC News.

“At this point, we need resolution and, clearly, we need leadership coming out of the White House to provide real answers that are clear, that are transparent and that are responsible for folks...” Nunn, who serves as a colonel in the Air Force Reserves, said.

Residents of New Jersey were confused and worried when a group of mysterious drones began to be seen flying in the skies above the state starting late last month. Now residents in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, California and other states are experiencing the same thing.

Over the last few weeks, local, state and federal law enforcement officials in a string of states have been collecting and investigating reports of unexplained drone sightings

A cluster of drones, seemingly commercial grade, has consistently emerged over communities and even some restricted airspaces after sunset – first in northern New Jersey and now across the country.

Ariana Baio has the story.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that the Biden administration is not providing lawmakers with answers about the origin of drones recently spotted in the Northeast.

“Look, I’m the speaker of the House. I have the exact same frustrations that you do and all of us do. We don’t have the answers. The administration is not providing them,” Johnson told Fox News.

“They just say ‘don’t worry about it, it’s not foreign entities, there’s not a vessel offshore doing this, and they’re not collecting any data.’ OK, then what is it?” Johnson said.

“You heard Mayorkas, who no one believes, we impeached him in the House as you know, the DHS secretary, he said in an interview a couple days ago, well because they changed the regulations to allow drones to fly at night, that’s why everybody’s seeing them now. They’ve always been there. I mean, look, people are not buying the answers,” Johnson said.

Shooting down drones seen across the US could come with consequences.

“If people start shooting, things have to come down,” Jeffrey Wells, a visiting fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University, told The Hill.

Wells told the outlet that it was vital for the nation to address gaps between local officials and the federal government.

“Making those kind of more direct feeds to local government to inform citizens, that over your neighborhood really those are airplanes, those are helicopters, those are things that are being operated by your local utility company,” he said.

Two senior officials are hitting the nation’s response to the drones flying over US military installations.

One official told USA TODAY that the response from the Pentagon had been too passive.

The official said that unidentified drones should be zapped and put in a bag.

Federal officials are warning residents not to shoot down drones after sightings across the Northeast.

In updated guidance, the Federal Aviation Administration noted that it’s illegal under federal law to shoot at an aircraft.

“A private citizen shooting at any aircraft – including unmanned aircraft – poses a significant safety hazard. An unmanned aircraft hit by gunfire could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, or it could collide with other objects in the air,” the agency warned. “Shooting at an unmanned aircraft could result in a civil penalty from the FAA and/or criminal charges from federal, state or local law enforcement.”