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A growing chorus of Democratic elected officials in New York and New Jersey are demanding answers from the Biden administration regarding the ongoing sightings of mysterious drones that suddenly began to appear about a month ago.
“This has gone too far,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said in a short, terse statement on Saturday, adding that it’s past time to take action.
Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, upstate New York, temporarily closed its runways for an hour Friday night after two drones were spotted flying overhead. The commercial airport is located near a New York Air National Guard base, home to the 105th Airlift Wing.
In a separate development, New Jersey’s largest utility, PSE&G, has petitioned the FAA to suspend all air traffic over two of its nuclear power plants following recent drone sightings near these sensitive sites. This marks the first time the company has made such a request, the New York Post reported.
The most concerning reports came from the Jersey Shore, where the military confirmed credible sightings. On December 9, a 47-foot Coast Guard cutter was reportedly followed by between 13 and 30 drones, the Coast Guard confirmed.
The Ocean County Sheriff’s Office alerted authorities about the drones over the Atlantic and even deployed its own drone to track the 50 unidentified aircraft. Remarkably, Sheriff Michael Mastronardy stated that the law enforcement drone could not keep up.
Additionally, officials at Naval Weapons Station Earle, a sensitive military base in Monmouth County, NJ, reported continued drone activity in the area this week, The Post added.
As for Hochul, she called on the New York State Intelligence Center to probe the drone sighting incidents but also called on the federal government to do more.
She specifically urged Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, which would enhance the FAA’s oversight of drones and grant state and local law enforcement agencies greater authority to investigate drone activity.
“Until those powers are granted to state and local officials, 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,” she said.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has also addressed the issue, telling local news agencies on Saturday he is surprised that the federal government does not seem to know much about what is flying above his state.
Murphy said he might travel to Washington, D.C., next week to find out why legislation granting greater authority to state and local officials for investigating recent drone sightings has not been enacted. He also intends to advocate for increased federal resources to tackle the continued sightings.
Republicans are also frustrated by the lack of answers and response from the hapless Biden regime.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) told The Post his own “high-clearance” sources within the U.S. government and across the private sector contend the drones could be part of an alliance between China and Iran.
“Something’s very wrong,” Van Drew told The Post. “We’ve got unidentifiable, sophisticated drones, as big as minivans, carefully navigating airspace that’s not covered by radar, in a very important part of our country, and still, a month later, we somehow don’t know anything — and we’re being told, ‘Don’t worry, everything’s okay.’”
Van Drew told The Post that at a meeting of state officials this week in Trenton, N.J., federal investigators appeared to suggest that local authorities should take the drones out.
“[They had] the temerity, the gall to tell local sheriffs, local police departments and firemen they should do something about shooting them down, so they can investigate,” he said, noting further that the comment was made “casually,” and that “no official directive” was issued by any federal agency.
“This is not an investigation for your municipal police force or for the county sheriff’s office. Are you kidding me? I have never seen anything like it,” he said.
