A flood of nighttime drone sightings over northern New Jersey has nearly every level of local law enforcement and government concerned and confused, but no one has been able to get satisfactory explanations. NBC News reported that New Jersey State Senator Jon Bramnick today proposed a limited state of emergency banning all drone flights until authorities are able to provide answers. NJ Governor Phil Murphy posted on social media that he has met with Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the Department of Homeland Security, the NJ State Police, and members of the state congressional delegation, to discuss “reported drone activity over parts of North and Central New Jersey.”
Well, what would a picture of a drone, hundreds of feet away, at night, look like?
Pretty useless, if you ask me.
Also you do not know that pictures weren’t taken. You’ve made an assumption.
There are lots of videos out there. All you really see are the flashing lights.
I tend to think Steve Parker is correct. If they had bad intentions, they wouldn’t have their lights on.
Yes, please. I’m pretty sure that the vast majority of “the public” would not be terribly happy about it being legal for any yahoo with a credit card to surveil the backyards, bedroom windows, garages, pools, and other private areas of their homes and property.
Surely it’s crossed the mind of someone that they could use a drone to follow an Amazon truck around, note which houses had a delivery, verify that there is no sign of anyone home, and dispatch a porch-pirate to snag the package. Such surveillance would have required trespassing (for which we have laws) but our property laws have not kept up with such remote-observation threats.
On the other hand, any entity responsible for the drone activities might not appreciate their drones becoming the unwitting target of another flying machine that cannot see them in the dark. You’ve got to “See and Avoid.”
Yes. They do. On the other hand, it makes some sense that in the dark, the best camouflage for a suspicious flying object might be to appear to be some innocent enthusiast’s flying drone.
Exactly how would ATC know a drone is in their airspace unless a pilot reported it? Do they have transponders or ADSB-out? Think the FAA’s radar is going to pick up a four foot long plastic drone? The potential for a collision with a real aircraft, resulting in loss of life, increases everyday. They are no longer toys being flown around some kid’s backyard. It’s time to address the potential problems drones are capable of creating.