Answer to the Mystery behind the Invasion of the DRONES!!!
As the below three recent publications amply highlight, an unexpected level of drone flights has worried the general public, especially the citizens of New York and New Jersey plus their elected representatives. The headlines of these reports include alarming language like:
- “WE KNOW NOTHING. PERIOD.”
- “We have NO EVIDENCE at this time that the reported drone sightings POSE A NATIONAL SECURITY OR PUBLIC SAFETY THREAT or have a foreign nexus.”
- “coordinated manner” with their lights turned off, and they CANNOT BE TRACKED VIA RADIO FREQUENCY, INFRARED CAMERAS, OR HELICOPTERS.”
- “In September of 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, changed the rules so that drones could fly at night,” he [DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas] told the broadcaster. “And that may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before, especially from dawn to dusk.”
- “Sen. Chuck Schumer called Sunday for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to deploy better drone-tracking technology to identify the drones and their operators.”
So, what do we know about UASs?
Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UASs) have revolutionized aviation and have tested the FAA and other regulators. When the first of these vehicles were introduced the range of allowed operations was quite limited. Beyond visual line of sight , flight over people and operations at night were initially heavily constricted and gradually these restrictions were reduced or eliminated.
The mobility of these innovative vehicles has created a myriad of commercial opportunities, but also poses challenges to those assigned to assure safety of the national airspace. One element of UAS’s potential for disruption is NATIONAL SECURITY.
To address this issue, DHS, FBI, DOT, FAA and a host of other state/local interested governmental bodies worked to create protections to limit the associated risks. Their final proposal was issued a rule that was effective on September 16, 2023. The final
rule has a number of exceptions and is sufficiently complex that reviewing more than what’s conveyed in the above infogram would significantly lengthen this post. Suffice to say that most of the drones mentioned in these reports must include a DIGITAL LICENSE PLATE. These drones must have built-in Remote ID broadcast capabilities that provide identification and location information about the drone and its control station.
If the UASs sighted in NY/NJ are not incompliance with 14 CFR Part 89, then the public statements MUST state so. If these aircraft do include the identifier, that should be disclosed!!!Thus, the official assertion that these drones are not part of some foreign intervention is hard to support in that the operator is not known!!!
Added technology (Sen. Schumer) would be warranted ONLY if the drones’ owner is unknown; the compliant user would be known. Some of the commenters suppose that these flights may be just normal citizens—how can that be true if their drones meet Part 89?
What is really confusing is the statement by the DHS Secretary that this “invasion of the drones” can be attributed to the FAA 2023 final regulation that authorized night flights. Oh really, if that relaxation of the rules posed a risk, why didn’t Secretary Mayorkas’ staff who participated in this rulemaking block the night rule?
What has not been included in this public discussion is that the GAO, after a lengthy study, concluded:
Drones: Actions Needed to Better Support Remote Identification in the National Airspace
If nothing else should be learned from this kerfuffle, Congress must AUTHORIZE this limited devolution and APPROPRIATE the funds to provide all levels of Law Enforcement with the GAO’s suggested Drone ID app:
If this simple suggestion was acted upon, a lot of people may have worried a lot less.
We Know Nothing’: State, Local Officials Demand Answers About Mystery Drones
Potentially thousands of sightings of large, unidentified drones are baffling local, state, and federal investigators.
Updated Dec 13, 2024
Potentially thousands of mysterious drones have been reported in U.S. airspace, and state and local officials are demanding answers.
New Jersey officials—including more than 500 mayors and other state and local lawmakers—were briefed on the drones by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during a meeting at New Jersey State Police headquarters on Wednesday. Many said they left the briefing frustrated, confused, and with more questions than answers. Several called for the military to intervene. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy did not join the meeting, attendees said.
“WE KNOW NOTHING. PERIOD,” said Dawn Fantasia, a New Jersey assemblywoman who attended Wednesday’s meeting, in a viral post on social media site X. “To state that there is no known or credible threat is incredibly misleading, and I informed all officials of that sentiment.”
At a Congressional hearing Tuesday, a top FBI official said federal investigators have reviewed more than 3,000 alleged sightings of the drones since they were first reported on November 18. The aircraft have popped up over private residences, golf courses, and even military installations across New Jersey—and, more recently, New York and Pennsylvania. One county sheriff’s office in New Jersey released a heat map of the reported sightings.
On Thursday, the DHS and FBI—which began investigating the drones earlier this month—released an official statement downplaying any potential threat from the aircraft. They added that many of the reports may actually be crewed aircraft flying routinely and that no drone sightings have been confirmed in restricted airspace.
“We have NO EVIDENCE at this time that the reported drone sightings POSE A NATIONAL SECURITY OR PUBLIC SAFETY THREAT or have a foreign nexus,” the agencies said. “The FBI, DHS and our 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.”
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Mid-November sightings at Picatinny Arsenal Military Base and President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in New Jersey, meanwhile, prompted the FAA to issue temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) “at the request of federal security partners,” the agency told FLYING.
Whose Drones Are These?
According to Fantasia, DHS officials said the drones are about 6 feet in diameter, capable of remaining aloft for six to seven hours and travelling distances up to 15 miles. That description does not align with camera drones deployed by casual flyers, which are typically a fraction of the size and far less durable. But DHS said the aircraft aren’t theirs.
As many as 180 sightings have been reported every night since the drones were first spotted in mid-November, with most in unrestricted airspace, the assemblywoman relayed. She said DHS does not know where they take off or land and described their behavior as “unusual and potentially nefarious.”
Per Fantasia, officials said the drones fly in a “coordinated manner” with their lights turned off, and they CANNOT BE TRACKED VIA RADIO FREQUENCY, INFRARED CAMERAS, OR HELICOPTERS. That too is abnormal: The FAA requires all registered DRONES TO BROADCAST A “DIGITAL LICENSE PLATE” with live location and identification information, which can be accessed by local law enforcement and other airspace users.
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Calls for Action
On Thursday, Kim and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) penned a letter to the FBI, DHS, and FAA requesting more information about what is being done to combat the problem.
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Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) has been one of the most vocal proponents of federal government intervention, telling the AP the drones should be “shot down, if necessary.”
Representative Mikie Sherill (D-N.J.) urged Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to communicate guidance to military personnel for shooting down drones over bases. Sherill also called on Austin to devise a revamped counter-drone strategy, a requirement in the proposed National Defense Authorization Act of 2025.
The Morris County Board of County Commissioners on Friday characterized the situation as “a matter of national security” and called on the government to “marshal all federal resources at its disposal, including the military, to end the unauthorized flight of drones.”
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By Ryan King
Published Dec. 15, 2024, 4:40 p.m. ET
HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY BLAMES DRONE SIGHTINGS ON RECENT FAA RULE CHANGE
Department of Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday continued to dismiss the flood of drones across New Jersey, this time saying it is likely just the result of relaxed rules on the devices.
Mayorkas seemingly downplayed the mounting concerns of residents including former Gov. Chris Christie — who reported some of the craft recently flying over his house — and again claimed there is no evidence of foreign involvement in the aeronautical phenomenon.
“There’s no question that people are seeing drones. And I want to assure the American public that we, in the federal government, have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology, to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings,” Mayorkas told ABC News’ “This Week.”
“Some of those drone sightings are, in fact, drones. Some are manned aircraft that are commonly mistaken for drones. And we do see duplicative reporting.”
But Mayorkas explained that in September 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration TWEAKED ITS POLICY ON DRONES TO ALLOW FLIGHTS AT NIGHT.
“In September of 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, changed the rules so that drones could fly at night,” he told the broadcaster. “And that may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before, especially from dawn to dusk.”
US agencies should use advanced technology to identify mysterious drones, Schumer says
Story by BIANCA VÁZQUEZ TONESS and DAVE COLLINS
…”Sen. Chuck Schumer called Sunday for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to deploy better drone-tracking technology to identify the drones and their operators.
“New Yorkers have tremendous questions about it,” Schumer, the Senate majority leader, told reporters about the drone sightings. “We are going to get the answers for them.”
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“Schumer wants the federal government to use a recently declassified radio wave technology in New York and New Jersey. The radio wave detector can be attached to a drone or airplane and can determine whether another flying object is a bird or a drone, read its electronic registration, and follow it back to its landing place. Schumer said state and local authorities do not have the authority to track drones.”
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https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/5045984-fbi-warning-mystery-drones-planes-lasers/