The Warren County Police Chiefs Association challenged the FBIThe claim that there is “no known threat” associated with multiple drone sightings in New Jersey.

The mystery drones have been spotted in various locations across the Garden State, including near the Picatinny ArsenalA American military installation, and on the president-elect Donald TrumpBedminster Golf Course. These observations have raised security concerns, particularly regarding potential interference with commercial air traffic.

“We are shocked by the lack of response or update from federal and state officials,” wrote Chief Scott D. Robb, president of the Warren County Police Chiefs Association. Facebook Wednesday. “We disagree with their response that there is no known threat to the public at this time. Our position is that the mere fact of the unidentified drone flying overhead poses a threat to us in itself. “

The association said several unidentified drones have been spotted flying over infrastructure, homes and businesses in Warren County since November.

“Police have responded to your calls and Honesty has not been able to provide a sufficient response to reassure you,” Robb wrote. “We assure you that the law enforcement community is equally frustrated by the lack of transparency from federal and state officials.”

Residents of several New Jersey counties began reporting unidentified drones last month, with reports of sightings recently expanding to New York and Pennsylvania.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security addressed drone activity in a joint statement Thursday.

“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a threat to national security or public safety or have a foreign nexus,” the statement said, adding that they will work with the New Jersey State Police to continue to investigate these sightings.

Sen. Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat, also expressed frustration with the FBI’s response to this question in an Twitterjob.

“Any images or video footage that people obtain, police urge them to submit to the FBI, but I have yet to receive any follow-up from the FBI on their investigation and what they have compiled,” he said. Kim wrote Friday morning.

He added that these sightings had been going on for weeks, but many questions still remained unanswered.

“It is difficult to understand how, with the technology we have, we are not able to track these devices to determine their origin, which makes me much more concerned about our detection capabilities more generally drones and countermeasures,” Kim wrote.

Meanwhile, Sen. Cory Booker, a New Jersey Democrat, sent a letter to federal agencies on Tuesday calling for “transparency” with the public and New Jersey officials.

“It is our shared responsibility to ensure our airspace is safe and secure, and I am committed to giving New Jerseyans peace of mind regarding these activities,” the senator wrote.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy shared a letter he sent to the president on Friday. Joe Biden who called for more federal resources to investigate unexplained drone sightings in his state.

“Continued reports of UAS (unmanned aircraft system) activity have raised more questions than answers and caused conspiracy theories to surface on social media and other platforms,” the governor wrote Democrat in the letter he shared on X.

Senator Richard Blumenthala Connecticut Democrat, expressed concerns about drones on Thursday, calling for urgent intelligence analysis to identify and, if necessary, remove drones from the skies, particularly over airports and military bases.

The senator criticized the Biden administration’s response, demanding more aggressive efforts to remedy the situation.

“The lack of information is absolutely unacceptable. The American people deserve to know who owns these planes, who is flying them and what their purpose is,” Blumenthal said.

News week contacted the White House for comment via email Friday afternoon.

Besides Blumenthal, several Republican New Jersey lawmakers, including Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew, called on the military to step in and shoot down the drones.

Smith cited an incident in which a a dozen drones reportedly followed a U.S. Coast Guard lifeboat near Barnegat Light and Island Beach State Park in Ocean County. The Coast Guard confirmed the sighting, noting that several low-altitude aircraft were observed in the area near the Coast Guard vessel.

Do you have a story News week should it cover? Do you have any questions about this story? Contact [email protected].