Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., wrote a letter to the heads of all three departments on Tuesday, Dec. 10, asking them to brief them on the matter after reports of drones flying over a naval weapons base in central California New Jersey gave.
“It is our shared obligation to ensure our airspace is safe and secure, and I am committed to providing New Jersey residents with peace of mind during these activities,” Booker wrote. “I am committed to assisting in investigating the origins of this activity and working with you to develop policies to protect New Jersey’s people and infrastructure from malicious drone activity.”
At a press conference on Wednesday, December 11, the White House confirmed that it was aware of the drone reports and was reviewing them.
According to Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh, there is currently no evidence that the reported drone activity comes from a foreign organization or the work of an adversary. While the Pentagon continues to monitor the situation, no facilities were threatened at the time of this activity, she said.
Delaware and the FAA have laws regulating the flight of recreational drones. Overall, they cannot fly over crowded events, active scenes with first responders, near airports, and above 400 feet in altitude. Most of the airspace is open to drone use.
More: Amid regional drone sightings, here are the rules for flying a drone in Delaware
More: Where do New Jersey drones come from? The Pentagon rejects lawmakers’ claim that Iran is “mothering.”
Adam Ringle is a retired Wilmington police officer who flew his drones and now teaches about them at his own consulting firm. He said recreational drones can weigh between 0.5 and 55 pounds and that a drone weighing over 25 pounds can appear massive and be noisy when flying at lower altitudes.
“This is a huge drone, almost 55 pounds,” Ringle said. “You’re talking about drones that might have a large circumference of 6 or 8 feet and are still considered a small unmanned aerial system. But for the public, this is not what they are used to seeing.”
They are also legal if they use the correct lighting structure that is exactly the same as ship lights. Red on the left, green on the right and a white flashing strobe to avoid collisions.
Ringle said he has no idea what might be behind the recent drone sightings, but suspects they wouldn’t be so well-lit if they were nefarious.
However, the activity seemed unusual, he said, as he would let people know if he repeatedly flew large drones over an area simply because it was good practice.
USA Today’s Fernando Cervantes Jr. contributed to this report.
