Reports of suspicious drone sightings, first detected near the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, have spread throughout New Jersey over the last week and have spread to Brick Township.
A local drone pilot provided video to Shorebeat of high-altitude, brightly-lit drones he spotted Saturday over the Manasquan River, in the general vicinity of Lightning Jack’s Marina on Ridge Road. The imagery can be viewed in the video embedded above.(Note: if the video does not appear, disable any ad blocking software on this page.)
Shorebeat zoomed in on the what are likely unmanned aerial systems (UAS) – the legal term for drones – hovering over the river and emitting a constant light source. The observations are in line with the majority of most other UAS reports in Ocean County over the weekend, which include a large number in Forked River and some in Toms River.
Some of the most significant sightings from around the state have included drones at somewhat lower altitudes, allowing photographers to grab closer-in photos that show UAS the size of small cars, often in a quadcopter configuration with light arrays varying from multi-colored to traditional flashing red-and-green aircraft navigation lights. A video of some of these sightings from a Fox News report appears below. A similar tranche of videos were published in an NBC News report.
The sightings led the FAA last week to impose more intensive temporary flight restrictions over Picatinny and President-Elect Donald Trump’s properties in North Jersey. Similar descriptions of UAS were seen flying over a recent meeting of defense leaders in California, though there have been no reports of drones near Trump’s Mar-A-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla., which is located within extremely dense airspace and across the bay from a power plant and seaport.
Authorities in Ocean County have released few, if any, statements on the drones. Monmouth County officials, however, acknowledged the reports coming into their offices and instructed residents how to report sightings.
“Acknowledging concerns voiced by the public, the Prosecutor’s Office and local police are actively sharing information about the sightings with partner agencies as it is received,” the statement said. “As of now, the drones are not known to pose any specific threat to public safety. The aforementioned sightings have taken place along the Bayshore Region, the Atlantic Coast, and interior sections of Monmouth County.”
Anyone concerned about a potentially suspicious drone sighting is asked call the non-emergency line of their local police department to report it. The FBI’s Newark office and the New Jersey State Police are also asking civilians to report any information related to such matters directly to a dedicated tip line at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or submit information online at www.tips.fbi.gov (videos can also be uploaded at that URL).
