New Jersey State Police have sparked concern after revealing a drone they sent to track a mysterious aircraft “easily” evaded police equipment and then disappeared into thin air.
Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardi said his unit launched the drone after one of his officers saw 50 unmanned aerial vehicles “coming out of the water.”
Troopers called 911 to alert state police, the FBI and the Coast Guard.
Maritime agencies later reported spotting 13 drones tracking the boat and estimated the devices had an 8-foot wingspan.
Matronardi told NewsNation’s Rich McHugh that his forces set up an “industrial” drone to track one of the devices, but it quickly slipped through their grasp.
This incident is just one of many drone sightings involving local residents in and around the Garden State.
“It would be even scarier if this wasn’t our military,” McHugh said.
On Friday, White House National Security and Communications Advisor John Kirby insisted that despite the large number of sightings, the public has nothing to fear.
Mr Kirby said most reports were likely cases of manned aircraft being mistaken for drones.
Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardi said officers sent a drone to track the mysterious aircraft, which he said was “easily” evaded by the device before disappearing into thin air.
They launched the drone after officers reported seeing 50 mysterious flying objects coming from the sea.
But he acknowledged authorities were still struggling to corroborate some of the sightings and urged the public to continue reporting any unusual activity.
The Ocean County Sheriff’s Office said the flying objects are difficult to track because they don’t generate heat like regular drones.
“We don’t know [why]. That is not something we have actually done or experienced,” one of the officers said.
Mr McHugh also saw the drone and published the discovery in the Elizabeth Vargas Report, admitting he was stunned by the discovery.
“It would be even scarier if this wasn’t military. These things look like fixed-wings and have multiple lights on them,” he said.
“I don’t really know what to make of what I saw last night. Both the photographer and I were a bit taken aback.”
The first drone sightings occurred on November 18th over the US military’s Picatinny Arsenal and Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster.
Since then, the FBI has received more than 3,000 tips with varying degrees of confidence in at least 12 counties across New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and Orange County, New York.
The Ocean County Sheriff’s Office launched an “industrial grade” drone to track one of the devices, with little success.
These sightings are among a number of incidents causing alarm in New Jersey and elsewhere.
As hysteria began to spread across the country, President-elect Donald Trump led calls for more transparency.
He called for President Biden’s White House to shoot down drones flying over several U.S. states after days of mysterious sightings across the sky.
Although he did not directly address the sightings at his club, he urged action from Joe Biden and the government in a post on Truth Social on Friday.
He wrote: “Mysterious drones have been sighted all over the country. Is this really happening without the government’s knowledge? I don’t think so! It’s time to let the public know. . Otherwise, shoot them down!
His comments were echoed by lawmakers in New Jersey as well as in other states.
But former FBI counter-drone expert Robert D’Amico told DailyMail.com that shooting down a drone is reckless and could result in serious injury or death.
He said the increase in reports was likely due to “hysteria”, with untrained eyes focused on the sky, as well as people launching their own drones to try to figure out what was going on. suggested.