Murphy asks Biden for help – NBC New York

New Jersey’s governor says he has written a letter to President Joe Biden requesting more federal resources to assist in the investigation into multiple reports of drones flying over his state in recent weeks.

Since existing laws limit the ability of state and local law enforcement to address unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), Gov. Phil Murphy requested the president deploy additional means of answering the unresolved questions.

“New Jersey residents deserve more concrete information about these UAS sightings and what is causing them,” the Democrat’s letter read, in part. “The continued reporting of UAS activity has raised more questions than answers and prompted an outcropping of conspiracy theories on social media and other online platforms.”

Murphy has said his state is working with the FBI and other federal partners to determine the source of the UAS. He also wrote a separate letter to congressional leaders asking that they pass legislation to shore up state and local rights to address UAS activity. It wasn’t immediately clear if he got a response to the letter, which is dated Thursday.

Rallying cries for action have built steadily in recent weeks as more reports of the drones emerged. This week, a U.S. senator called for mysterious drones spotted flying at night over sensitive areas in New Jersey and other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region to be “shot down, if necessary,” even as it remains unclear who owns the unmanned aircraft.

“We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Thursday.

People in the New York region are also concerned that the drones may be sharing airspace with commercial airlines, he said, demanding more transparency from the Biden administration.

The White House said Thursday that a review of the reported sightings shows that many of them are actually manned aircraft being flown lawfully. White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said there were no reported sightings in any restricted airspace. He said the U.S. Coast Guard has not uncovered any foreign involvement from coastal vessels.

“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,” Kirby said, echoing statements from the Pentagon.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh has said they are not U.S. military drones.

In a joint statement issued Thursday afternoon, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said they and their federal partners, in close coordination with the New Jersey State Police, “continue to deploy personnel and technology to investigate this situation and confirm whether the reported drone flights are actually drones or are instead manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings.”

The drones appear to avoid detection by traditional methods such as helicopter and radio, according to a state lawmaker briefed Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security.

The number of sightings has increased in recent days, though officials say many of the objects seen may have been planes rather than drones. It’s also possible that a single drone has been reported more than once.

The worry stems partly from the flying objects initially being spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility, and over President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster.

Drones are legal in New Jersey for recreational and commercial use but are subject to local and Federal Aviation Administration regulations and flight restrictions. Operators must be FAA certified.

Most, but not all, of the drones spotted in New Jersey appeared to be larger than those typically used by hobbyists.