Tired of the New Jersey drone mystery yet? The FAA has placed 22 Temporary Flight Restrictions on parts of the state, barring drones from flying over some “critical” infrastructure areas. The areas where drones are banned have now been deemed “National Defense Airspace.”
An FAA Notice to Airmen states that the government “may use deadly force” against any drones that violate its new rules, and drone pilots may be “intercepted, detained, and interviewed.”
Restricted drone-flying locations are Hamilton, Bridgewater, Cedar Grove, North Brunswick, Metuchen, Evesham, Camden, Gloucester City, Westampton, South Brunswick, Edison, Branchburg, Sewaren, Jersey City, Harrison, Elizabeth, Bayonne, Winslow, Burlington, Clifton, Hancocks Bridge, and Kearny, ABC7 reports. The restrictions are in effect until Jan. 17.
Previous bans around Bedminster, where President-elect Donald Trump has a home, and Picatinny Arsenal remain in place.
This week, the FBI told the public not to shine lasers or lights into the sky and to not shoot at the drones because some of them may actually be manned aircraft. (Trump made a post about the drones on social media Dec. 13, writing, “shoot them down!!!”).
As of Monday, four federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, said they had “not identified anything anomalous” and did not believe the drone activity to date posed a “national security or public safety risk.”
A Pentagon spokesperson has said that “thousands” of drones are flown in the US on a daily basis and are not necessarily malicious or a threat. An FAA officer has also said there are about a million drones registered in the US. Unless an area is close to an airport or specifically restricted, civilians can fly drones in most areas as long as they remain under 400 feet off the ground.
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Roughly 100 of the 5,000 drone reports the FBI has received thus far have gotten further investigation, but those probes didn’t uncover new information. At this point, we still don’t know who is operating the drones. A Pentagon spokesperson said it’s unlikely the drones are being used for intelligence purposes, and another spokesperson said the spotted drones don’t belong to the US military.
Drone-detecting equipment used thus far has found no evidence of malicious activity, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has said.
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About Kate Irwin
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