As the mystery surrounding the recent drone sightings in New Jersey deepens, officials and lawmakers are taking the initiative to find an explanation. While Sheriff Michael Mastronardy sent out his own drone to track the mysterious flying objects, Senator Andy Kim went out on drone patrol with the local police. Here's what they found out following their respective efforts on Thursday:
New Jersey officials reveal what they saw after drone hunt
Mastronardy said on Thursday that the Ocean County Sheriff’s office sent its own “industrial grade” drone to follow one of 50 unmanned aerial vehicles a local police officer saw “coming off the ocean,” according to New York Post. The drone was sent out after the cop had alerted the state police, the FBI and the US Coast Guard, who later confirmed 13 drones, with wingspans of eight feet, were following one of their vessels.
However, the mysterious drones escaped from the officials' clutches, Mastronardy told News Nation's Rich McHugh, who narrated the story to fellow anchor Elizabeth Vargas on Friday. McHugh admitted that, at first, he thought the drones were a result of “pranksters” but realised the gravity of the situation once he saw them himself. “If this is not our military, then it’s even more scary,” he said.
“These things look like they are fixed-wing, and they have multiple lights. I’m not really sure how to process what I saw last night. Both the photographer and I were kind of stunned,” McHugh confessed. Meanwhile, Senator Kim's observation was somewhat different. Following his Thursday night patrol, the lawmaker explained that while most of the objects were likely to be drones, most others appeared to have been just planes after a “deeper analysis.”
{{/usCountry}}“These things look like they are fixed-wing, and they have multiple lights. I’m not really sure how to process what I saw last night. Both the photographer and I were kind of stunned,” McHugh confessed. Meanwhile, Senator Kim's observation was somewhat different. Following his Thursday night patrol, the lawmaker explained that while most of the objects were likely to be drones, most others appeared to have been just planes after a “deeper analysis.”
{{/usCountry}}Kim provided an update on X Saturday, writing, “After going out with police to observe reports of possible drones, I was with help of civilian pilots and others able to do deeper analysis and concluded that most of the possible drone sightings that were pointed out to me were almost certainly planes.” He detailed his entire observation in a series of tweets under the same thread.
“I’ll keep pressing to get answers about possible drones and help us understand what’s going on. On top of that, I’ll push for a government that is more responsive to the people. A customer service governance that treats people with respect, transparency and accountability,” Kim concluded.