U.S. officials are sending a drone detection system to New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul says, after increasing questions in recent days about mysterious objects in the skies over the East Coast and beyond.

Hochul asked for government assistance after drone sightings led to the runways at Stewart International Airport in the state being closed for an hour last week.

“In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are sending a drone detection system to New York,” Hochul wrote on X on Sunday.

She said state governments need more power to deal alone with the small, unmanned aircraft, which have also been reported in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

And further west, in Ohio, drone sightings also led to the closure of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for about an hour on Friday evening, according to local media.

“Congress must pass a law that gives us the power to deal directly with the drones,” Hochul said in her post, after promising last week to “do whatever it takes to keep New Yorkers safe.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday he hopes to pass a bill that would give local law enforcement more power to investigate unidentified flying objects, saying, “I’m pushing for answers in light of these drone sightings.”

He also called for a drone detection system similar to the one planned for New York to be sent to New Jersey, where most aerial encounters have been recorded so far.

New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim said he went out with local residents over the weekend to watch the night sky and he believes — based on conversations with civilian pilots and flight tracking data — that most of the planes he saw were “quite a bit Security aircraft were”. .

Despite their calls for more help in solving the problem, Hochul and other officials have sought to reassure the public that the suspected drones do not pose a threat to national security.

On Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas confirmed that the sightings involved drones and manned aircraft, which are commonly confused with drones. He told ABC News that he was “not aware of any foreign involvement” in connection with the sightings.

The Pentagon has rejected a New Jersey official’s claim that the possible drones came from an Iranian “mother ship” lurking off the East Coast, while an FBI official said there may have been “a slight overreaction” on the issue.

Mayorkas said the increase in drone reports could be due to a change in federal regulations that allow drones to fly at night.

He added that the federal government was “working closely with state and local authorities” on the matter and said it was “critically important” to give them the ability to counter drone activity under federal oversight.

Just over a month before Donald Trump’s inauguration, the president-elect’s chosen national security adviser, Republican Rep. Mike Waltz, dismissed the Biden administration’s response to the sightings.

“I think Americans find it difficult to believe that we can’t figure out where these are coming from,” he told the BBC’s US news partner CBS.

“We have to get to the bottom of this,” he said, accusing government agencies of “pointing at each other” instead of providing answers.

Kim, a Democrat, also called on federal authorities to do more to ease Americans’ concerns.

“People are very worried right now about the economy, health, safety, etc.,” he wrote on X.

“And all too often we find that those tasked with working on these issues do not address the public with the respect and depth necessary.”