The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced a temporary drone ban in New Jersey, citing ‘special security reasons.’
At least 22 towns in central and northern New Jersey fall under the alert, which is in place until at least January 17.
The temporary flight restriction (TFR) areas include parts of Camden, Gloucester City, Winslow Township, Evesham, Hancock’s Bridge in Lower Alloways Township in Salem County, Westampton, Burlington, and Hamilton in Mercer County.
Flying drones is also banned in Bridgewater, Cedar Grove, North Brunswick, Metuchen, South Brunswick, Edison, Branchburg, Sewaren, Jersey City, Harrison, Elizabeth, Bayonne, Clifton, and Kearny.
The FAA warned that ‘deadly force’ could be used against drones that present an ‘imminent security threat.’
Pilots who violate the restriction may be ‘intercepted, detained, and interviewed by law enforcement.’
The ban comes one month after the first drone sightings in New Jersey, which began in mid-November near President-elect Donald Trump‘s Bedminster golf course and the U.S. Army’s Picatinny Arsenal.
While residents and local officials have speculated that the drones are foreign adversaries, the White House has stated multiple times that it has ‘not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risk.’
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday that people are misidentifying hobbyists, planes, and even stars as drones.
He noted that the FBI had received tips on 5,000 drone sightings in recent weeks, of which 100 were deemed worthy of further investigation.
‘There are more than 1 million drones that are lawfully registered with the Federal Aviation Administration here in the United States, and there are thousands of commercial hobbyists and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day,’ Kirby told reporters.
Then Kirby pointed to the array of explanations over what US officials believe to be in the skies, having looked at the various tips – even saying misidentified stars were part of the problem.
‘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 even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones.’
‘We have not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace In New Jersey, or other states in the Northeast. The work continues.’
‘But I want to stress again, our assessment at this stage is that the activity represents commercial, hobbyist law enforcement drones, all operating legally and lawful and or civilian aviation aircraft,’ he underlined.
Michael McCaul, R-Texas, made a bombshell claim Tuesday, saying some of the unidentified aircraft are ‘spy drones’ from China.
The speculation came after it was revealed that the communist state had been snapping up strategically placed farmland next to military installations across the US.
‘We want answers but the response I’m getting is we don’t know whose drones these are,’ McCaul said before executive-branch officials offered a classified briefing to members of the House intelligence committee.
‘I was with the NASA administrator, Bill Nelson, he said that these drones have been reported over military sites, military bases. I would not think those are friendly. I would think those are adversarial,’ he added.
‘I believe they’re spy drones and the PRC and communist China is very good at this stuff. We know they bought land around military bases. This would be very consistent with their policy over the past couple years,’ he said.
Belleville Mayor Michael Melham, whose township was not listed in the TFR, has become a vocal critic calling the federal response ‘disappointing, to say the least.’
‘Over 500 mayors were invited to an unprecedented ‘mayors-only’ briefing on such an important topic,’ Mayor Melham told local network WABC last week.
‘Many northern NJ mayors traveled nearly three hours round trip, on short notice, to be there,’ he explained, ‘only to learn what could have easily been said over a Zoom call. Many walked out.’
Journalist and author Michael Shellenberger, who testified to Congress last month on his reports of a hidden UFO data collection program, obtained a recording of the meeting, in which one NJ mayor complained of SUV-sized drones.
‘The mayors are livid,’ Shellenberger told Fox News. ‘One of them got up there and said, ‘I had two automobile-sized drones hovering over my house.”
FAA warns that any drone pilots found to be operating in restricted zones run the risk of being intercepted, detained, and questioned by law enforcement.
Administrative actions, including civil penalties, certificate suspension or revocation of their drone license, or even criminal charges, may also be pursued.
