Drone restrictions sparked by a spate of mysterious sightings across New Jersey are set to expire this weekend — even though their origins still remain unclear.
The Federal Aviation Administration announced the bans last month, barring uncrewed aircraft from operating within a “nautical mile” of the airspace over more than two dozen towns and municipalities — much of it over “critical New Jersey infrastructure” — including from the ground up to 400 feet.
The bans were implemented after flocks of drones were spotted buzzing over New Jersey and half a dozen other states, including New York and Pennsylvania.
The “fixed-wing aircrafts” initially appeared in the Garden State in late November, in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, and continued for weeks. Residents reported the drones, some of them in packs as large as eight, mostly zipping around the airspace over mid- and northern New Jersey, including near Donald Trump’s National Golf Club in Bedminster and the Picatinny Arsenal Military Base in Rockaway.
The mysterious sightings riled residents and officials alike, including the president-elect, who suggested shooting them out of the sky. Others, like Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew, speculated the aircrafts were being sent over from Iran — a claim quickly rejected by federal officials.
White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said many of the drone sightings in New Jersey were actually lawfully operated manned aircraft, and that they posed no national security or public threat.
The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security echoed the sentiment, saying their investigation uncovered no evidence to suggest the clusters of drones are linked to a “foreign nexus.”
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