Today, the FBI and DHS jointly released a statement regarding reported drone sightings in New Jersey:

“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.

“In the past, we have experienced cases of mistaken identity where the reported drones were actually manned aircraft or facilities. We assist local law enforcement in New Jersey with numerous detection methods, but have not confirmed any reported visual sightings through electronic detection. On the contrary, upon reviewing the available images, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft operating legally. There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in restricted airspace.

“We take the threat posed by unmanned aerial systems (UAS) seriously, which is why law enforcement and other agencies continue to support New Jersey and investigate the reports.” To be clear, they have not uncovered any such malicious activity or intent at this time. Although there are no known malicious activities in New Jersey, reported sightings highlight the inadequacy of current authorities.