Army says 11 ‘confirmed’ mysterious drones at military base in New Jersey

Drone flying in the air. (Canva/nj.com via TNS)

(Tribune News Service) — Picatinny Arsenal, a military installation in Morris County, New Jersey, has had 11 confirmed sightings of unauthorized drones flying through its airspace in recent weeks, military officials said.

The first confirmed sighting of the Picatinny by police or a security officer at the arsenal occurred on Nov. 13, five days earlier than previously reported, Army officials said Monday. Seven other sightings remain unconfirmed, including one reported Friday at a military research and development facility in Jefferson and Rockaway Township.

“While the source and cause of these aircraft flying in our area remains unknown, we can confirm that they are not the result of any Picatinny Arsenal-related activity,” said Lt. Col. Craig A. Bonham II, commander of the Picatinny Arsenal garrison.

Unauthorized drone flights over military bases are prohibited. Last week, the FAA imposed additional restrictions on drone flights over Picatinny and the Trump National Golf Club in Somerset County.

The sightings at the Army facility were among the first reports in a flurry of drone sightings across the state in recent weeks. Residents have reported drones flying over the same areas of New Jersey every night, as well as extremely large drones over some areas that are not normally used by hobbyists.

It is unclear whether the drone sightings are related. Gov. Phil Murphy and other law enforcement officials have said there is no evidence the mysterious drones pose a threat to the state. The FBI is investigating sightings across the state, including reports at the Picatinny Arsenal.

Murphy said there were 49 reports of drones across the state on Sunday, but some turned out to be aircraft mistakenly identified as drones. Investigators also checked other reports.

On Monday, Picatinny Arsenal released a list with the dates of 18 sightings, including 11 confirmed cases. “Confirmed” means a police officer or security guard “obviously saw the drone” during or after receiving the report, the military said.

Picatinny Arsenal’s list also includes seven “unconfirmed” reports of drones, meaning a police officer received a call but “was unable to verify the object upon arrival at the scene,” Army officials said. Two of the unconfirmed reports were listed as “aircraft”.

Bonham said Picatinny Arsenal officials immediately began investigating the initial reports along with several local, state and federal partners.

The FBI, the lead agency in the investigation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Picatinny sighting.

The Picatinny Arsenal Police Department received a report of the evening drone operation.

Confirmed sightings occurred on 13 November, 18 November, 19 November and 24 November, when there were two, and every night between 28 and 30 November. There were also two confirmed sightings on December 3rd and one on December 6th.

There were two unconfirmed sightings on 26 November, one on 2 December, three on 4 December and one on 6 December.

At Naval Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck, officials said they are actively monitoring drone sightings.

“While we have received reports from our neighboring communities and law enforcement partners of drone activity near the facility, there have been no reports of drone activity in the airspace over Earl Naval Weapons Station at this time,” said Bill Addison, a company spokesman. station.

Officials at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in Burlington County referred questions to the FBI about whether there were any drone sightings at the base.

Staff writer Nya Marshall contributed to this report.

visit nj.com.

It is distributed Tribuna Content Agency LLC..