Suspicious drone sightings in northeastern states in recent weeks could come from inside the U.S., according to a military expert.

Civilians and lawmakers have reported drone sightings in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Ohio and other states, with local and federal law enforcement providing little information about the aerial activity, which was mostly spotted at night. Some of the drones have a diameter of up to 6 feet New Jersey State Representative Dawn Fantasia, who was briefed on the matter last week.

“The concern is definitely justified. One thing I do believe is that I believe the government knows the origin of these drones, and I believe the origin of these drones is within the United States, particularly the larger drones,” said Col. William Dunn, president of the Strategic Resilience Group, one government advisory group, told Fox News Digital. “It is very difficult to fly an aircraft the size of a vehicle into the United States without being detected, so I believe the drones are from the United States.”

Dunn, an attack helicopter pilot who spent 33 years in the Marine Corps, added that “a large drone needs to be refueled,” so the 6-foot-diameter drones flying over New Jersey would need to be refueled somewhere in the United States.

AFTER MORE THAN 20 DAYS, PENTAGON STILL HAVE NO ANSWERS TO THE ORIGIN OF THE MYSTERIOUS NJ DRONES

New Jersey State Representative Paul Kanitra took a photo of what appeared to be multiple drones in the New Jersey sky on December 13, 2024. (Paul Kanitra/”Fox News @ Night”)

“We are very familiar – particularly on the East Coast – with our air defense identification zone. … It’s very difficult to fly anything into the United States. It’s not impossible, but it’s very difficult,” Dunn said, recalling a time when he was flying a Cobra helicopter on an offshore route, “he forgot to appropriately acknowledge and call the observers.”

“They found me pretty quickly,” Dunn said.

Drone incidents in New Jersey are encouraging the government to introduce more anti-drone powers as current authorities soon expire

With smaller drones, it’s a different matter, said the Marine Corps veteran.

This map shows some of the locations where mysterious drones were spotted in the US in late 2024. (Fox News)

“We probably have US drones as well as some of these smaller drones that are flown in for a specific purpose. The question now is what do these drones do? I think they’re monitoring something,” Dunn said. “They’re looking for something, either a chemical weapon, a biological weapon or maybe radiation. … You know, there’s been a lot of talk about an open southern border and a lot about an immediate one there is a terrorist threat.”

“We could use these drones to intercept terrorist communications.”

– William Doyle

DRONE SECRET: NEW JERSEY HOMEOWNERS are threatening to take matters into their own hands if the government doesn’t act

Another problem with the recent drone sightings, Dunn said, is that they highlight weaknesses in U.S. defenses.

A social media user said she filmed several drones hovering over Fairfield, Connecticut, on Thursday evening. (Lucy Biggers)

“We’re telegraphing that we don’t know where these drones are. We telegraph that we can fly these drones over US bases and do nothing about it. Now our adversaries hear this and they see it. “Now they can take a drone and fly over a base and do something terrible,” Dunn said, later adding that the “Iranian drone threat” is “enormous.”

DRONE EXPERTS RULE OUT A US GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENT, unsure about other theories about the New Jersey drone phenomenon

Technically, officials could shoot down a suspicious drone, but doing so endangers civilians as the remnants of those drones are bound to fall from the sky. However, there is a way to neutralize drones through “zapping,” Dunn said.

A map showing drone sightings around New Jersey

“You could destroy it with a non-kinetic means,” the government advisory expert said. “It wipes out their electricity. Everything needs… electricity to fly up there. And you can bring him down that way.”

Raj Goyle, CEO of the intelligence firm Bodhala and a former Democratic state representative in Kansas, told Fox News Digital that it is encouraging to see members of both the Democratic and Republican parties coming together to try to determine the source of these drones . Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for example, recently called on the Department of Homeland Security to deploy 360-degree radar systems that can detect drone activity.

“The real problem is that we simply need more transparency and explanations from the governments involved.”

–Raj Goyle

“We should never allow an issue to go unused. …And I think there’s no reason to think otherwise, that everything is safe and sane, but let this be a catalyst for a discussion on this topic. Who is responsible? Is local law responsible?” Enforcement? Does the FAA do? Does the federal government do? Goyle said. “What are the interstate boundaries on these issues? It’s only going to grow from here.”

He added: “The sooner the political world realizes this, the better off everyone will be from a security and economic growth perspective.”

REGARD:

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., sent a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y ., calling on them to develop legislation to combat unmanned aerial systems that would give local law enforcement certain authorizations to protect their communities from drones.

On Saturday, Biden administration officials held a press conference on concerns surrounding the latest drone allegations.

A social media user said she filmed several drones hovering over Fairfield, Connecticut, on Thursday evening. (Lucy Biggers)

Representatives from the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the National Security Council, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) participated in the conference call. An FBI official said his agency has received 5,000 tips since the first mysterious drone was seen flying over the Garden State in November. Of those 5,000 tips, fewer than 100 warranted further investigation, the official said.

Biden Administration Officials Downplay Concerns About Drone Sightings: ‘Slight Overreaction’

The FBI official added that despite the recent surge in drone activity in recent weeks, investigators have found no evidence of large-scale unmanned drone activity.

“We are doing our best to find out the origin of this specific… this drone activity,” the official said. “But I think there was a slight overreaction.”

A map showing drone density in Monmouth County, New Jersey. (Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office)

A DHS official echoed the FBI representative’s comments, noting that while his agency did not dismiss all of the drone leads as unreliable, “the level of actual drone activity is likely less than what is being reported.”

A Defense Department official added that the agency “did not collect any information or observations that would indicate that (the drones) were targeted at a foreign actor or that they had malicious intent.”

“But, just to put it to you, we don’t know,” the representative said. “We were unable to locate or identify the operators or places of origin.”

WATCH: TRUMP SPEAKS MYSTERIOUS DRONE SIGHTINGS

While the Pentagon claims Because the drones are not foreign drones, the FBI has admitted it is “concerned” about how little the agency knows about them.

Robert Wheeler, FBI deputy director of the Critical Incident Response Group, told Congress on December 10: “There is nothing known that would lead me to make this statement, but we simply don’t know. And that’s the worrying part,” when asked whether the drone sightings pose a risk to Americans.

Asked Thursday if they had learned anything since then, the FBI told Fox News Digital that the phenomenon may not involve drones.

Photos taken in the Bay Shore section of Toms River appear to show large drones hovering in the area at high altitude in New Jersey on December 8, 2024. (Doug Hood/Asbury Park Press)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“We currently have no evidence that the reported drone sightings pose a threat to national or public security or have a foreign connection. 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 were actually drones or instead were manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings,” said a spokesman.

Both lawmakers and experts are calling on federal officials to release more information about suspected drone activity to allay Americans’ concerns and stop unfounded conspiracies.

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips, Andrea Margolis and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.