Federal authorities are being urged to deploy high-tech drone hunters to solve the mystery behind the sightings

New York leaders are calling on the federal government to deploy high-tech drone hunters to solve the mystery of who is behind the numerous sightings of suspected unmanned aerial vehicles buzzing over communities in New York and New Jersey. and even prompted authorities to close an airport over the weekend.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said Sunday that he is calling on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to immediately use special drone detection technology that has not been classified as classified to find out what is troubling and confusing residents in the region.

“If there’s the technology that can get a drone into the sky, there’s certainly the technology that can precisely track the craft and determine what the hell is going on,” Schumer said during a press conference. “And that’s exactly what the Robin (radar system) does today.”

“We’re asking DHS, the Department of Homeland Security, to deploy special detection systems like Robin that don’t use linear line-of-sight but use 360-degree technology that has a much better chance of detecting these drones. And we.” “We’re asking DHS to move them to the New York, New Jersey area,” he said.

He said the technology was originally used to detect birds and prevent them from flying into aircraft engines.

“Drone radar is based on the use of radio waves. The radio waves are sent out as pulses, and that means they are detectable,” Schumer said. “The question is, why haven’t federal authorities discovered them yet?”

Earlier Sunday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” that the federal government is taking action to combat the spate of drone sightings that have rattled the nerves of New Jersey and New York residents.

“There’s no question that people are seeing drones,” Mayorkas told “This Week” host George Stephanopoulos. “I want to assure the American public that we in the federal government have deployed additional resources, personnel and technology to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings.”

Mayorkas said some of the sightings involved drones, while others involved manned aircraft, which are often mistaken for drones.

“I want to assure the American public that we are on board,” Mayorkas said, adding that he is calling on Congress to expand local and state powers to help solve the problem.

Since mid-November, numerous sightings of suspected perpetrators have been reported along the East Coast, most of them in New Jersey.

Witnesses reported seeing drones the size of small cars lighting up the night sky and hovering over homes. Several large drones also appeared to be spotted flying clustered near military installations and President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.

The Federal Aviation Administration has imposed flight restrictions on drones while authorities investigate.

Officials from several agencies emphasized Saturday that the federal government’s investigation into the drone sightings is still ongoing. During a call with reporters, an FBI official said that of the nearly 5,000 tips the agency has received, fewer than 100 have yielded credible leads for further investigation. A DHS official said they are “confident that many of the reported drone sightings are actually manned aircraft being misidentified as drones.”

The FBI official also spoke about how investigators overlaid the locations of reported drone sightings and found that “the density of reported sightings matches the approach pattern” of busy New York area airports, including Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport.

An FAA official said drones had “without a doubt” flown over New Jersey, noting that nearly a million drones are registered in the United States.

Officials at Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, New York, about 60 miles north of New York City, said they were forced to close their runways for an hour Friday evening after the FAA warned them about a drone spotted in the area had.

Boston police said Sunday that two men were arrested Saturday evening after they allegedly flew a drone “dangerously close to Logan International Airport.” A third suspect fled the scene on a boat and is wanted by police.

According to police, the incident began early Saturday afternoon when a Boston police officer specializing in real-time crime surveillance spotted the drone operating near Logan International Airport. Using surveillance technology, the officer was able to pinpoint the drone’s altitude, flight history and the operator’s location on Long Island in Boston Harbor, where police found the suspects at a disused health care campus, authorities said. The suspects fled, but police managed to track two of them and continued their search for the third suspect on Sunday.

The suspects, identified by Boston police as 42-year-old Robert Duffy and 32-year-old Jeremy Folcik, both of Massachusetts, were arrested on trespassing charges.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Sunday that the federal government had agreed to deploy state-of-the-art drone detection systems in New York, but it was not immediately clear whether she and Schumer were discussing the same technology.

“In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system to New York State,” Hochul said. “This system will assist state and federal law enforcement in their investigations. We are grateful to the Biden administration for its support, but ultimately we need continued support from Congress.”

Hochul said she is urging Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, which “will give New York and its colleagues the authority and resources necessary to respond to circumstances like the ones we are experiencing today.” , to react.”

During a hearing of the House Department of Homeland Security Joint Subcommittee on Tuesday, officials from the Justice Department, FBI and Customs and Border Protection told lawmakers that current justice authorities are inadequate to deal with drones.

Schumer said he would co-sponsor federal legislation to give the FAA and local authorities more control over drones and expand their detection methods.

Last week, Schumer, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and New Jersey Senators Cory Booker and Andy Kim sent a letter to the heads of the FBI, FAA and DHS requesting a briefing on the drone sightings asked.

“We write with urgent concern about the unmanned aircraft system (UAS) activity that has affected communities across New York and New Jersey in recent days,” the letter said.

ABC News’ Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.