Drone, drone, everywhere a drone

‘Twas the week before Christmas, and over our house, four drones were stirring, with suspicions aroused.

Like many of you who live in the northeast, these mysterious drones that continue to invade our skies are leaving me in an unsettled state of mind during the holiday season. And why federal authorities took so long to investigate the source of these drones really does not have me feeling festive heading into what is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year.

This modern-day version of a Twilight Zone episode began on Nov. 18, when several large drones were spotted in the New Jersey skies. The sightings started to spread throughout the state, including drones hovering over the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal and President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster.

Following the issuing of flight restrictions by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in certain New Jersey counties, the drone sightings spread to Maryland, where former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan spotted large drones above his house. Drone sightings have also been reported in the skies over Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.

The White House response to this initial round of car-sized unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the northeast skies? Well, National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby essentially brushed aside any concerns that northeast lawmakers had by telling reporters at a 12/12 White House briefing, “We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat or have a foreign nexus. It appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully.”

Okay, Mr. Kirby, maybe the initial investigation “appeared” to show helicopters or airplanes, but shouldn’t federal authorities have gotten involved sooner to quell any national security concerns the American people, specifically those in the northeast, still might have?

Flash forward a few days, when New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the shutdown of Stewart International Airport in Orange County because of unidentified aircraft hovering over the airport, which services both commercial and military flights and is adjacent to a New York Air National Guard base.

In a terse statement, Hochul said, “This has gone too far. The Biden administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our critical infrastructure and our people.”

After repeated pleas by lawmakers not only in the northeast but across the country, and after more than 5,000 tips received by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in recent weeks on possible drone sightings, the federal government finally stepped in.

A state-of-the-art drone detection system was deployed to New York State that will support state and federal law enforcement in their investigations. 

In addition, the FBI, along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), FAA and the Department of Defense (DoD), issued a joint statement on Dec. 16 saying that based on the technical data and tips they received, “We assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones. We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.”

The agencies also urged Congress to “enact counter-UAS legislation when it reconvenes that would extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge.”

Progress is a good thing. National security cannot be compromised. While the federal government has now gotten involved in the investigation of these drones, I’m still not completely convinced that we’ve really gotten to the bottom of what these mysterious flying objects might be.

Just last night, someone posted a photo of what looked like four drones in the skies above the complex I live in here in NYC.

While we wait for more information from federal authorities on what these unexplained objects truly are, I’m going to do my best to enjoy the holiday season with my family.

Wait, is that a drone in the sky? No, it’s Santa’s sleigh. Whew!

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.