Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas offered a possible explanation for the recent uptick of drone encounters along the eastern seaboard—particularly in the skies above New Jersey—which have prompted concern among residents and lawmakers.
Reports of drone sightings across New Jersey and neighboring states, he said Sunday, may be the result of a rule change by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“In September of 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, changed the rules so that drones could fly at night,” Mayorkas told ABC News’ This Week. “And that may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before, especially from dawn to dusk.”
The FBI says that it has received over 3,000 tips related to the drone sightings in past weeks, most of which occurred at night. On social media, users have begun sharing videos of what they suspect to be drones. Some of these clips, however, merely captured airplanes or normal aircraft activity.
Despite a number of false alarms, the Homeland Security secretary acknowledged that “there’s no question that drones are being sighted.” According to him, “thousands” of the pilot-free aircraft are flying in the U.S. every day, and “more than one million drones” are registered nationwide.
While law enforcement agencies have yet to identify the exact source of the lights, the FBI and Homeland Security previously said in a joint statement Thursday that there was “no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus”—a point Mayorkas reiterated on Sunday.
“I want to assure the American public that we in the federal government have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings,” Mayorkas added during his appearance on the network.
Regardless of these assurances, the federal government’s response has ignited criticism and conspiracy theories, with some accusing officials of “lying” or concealing information.
“They’re lying to us. First, they say you’re not seeing what you’re seeing. There’s nothing here, nothing here to be seen. And then they tell us that they don’t know what it is,” New Jersey Assemblyman Erik Peterson told CNN on Saturday. They don’t know what’s happening. It’s all a lie.”
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) went so far as to claim the government is behind the drones.
“The government is in control of the drones and refuses to tell the American people what is going on. It really is that bad,” she wrote on X.
Greene’s theory echoed accusations waged by President-elect Donald Trump on Friday who suggested shooting down the mysterious drones if necessary, and insinuated the Biden administration was withholding information about the sightings.
“Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country,” he wrote on Truth Social. “Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!! DJT.”
Mayorkas, however, said he was not able to order the drones to taken out of the air and called for “extended and expanded” authority to shoot down drones, aside from only those that pass over restricted military airspace.
The DHS secretary’s public appeal for additional resources to address the drone issue came on the heels of New York governor, Kathy Hochul’s announcement on Sunday that the federal government was prepared to deploy a high-tech drone detection system in response to sightings in her state, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
