An airport in Orange County, New York, was forced to shut down on Friday night as mysterious drone activity blocked the airspace, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced on Saturday, saying, “This has gone too far.”
Drones have been spotted in recent weeks across New Jersey and neighboring states, prompting concern among residents and lawmakers and launching investigations by the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. The FBI says that it has received over 3,000 tips related to the drone sightings, with most of the purported observations occurring at night.
“Last night, the runways at Stewart Airfield were shut down for approximately one hour due to drone activity in the airspace,” Hochul said in a statement on Saturday.
New York Stewart International Airport is located in New Windsor, over an hour’s drive north of Manhattan.
Newsweek has reached out to Hochul’s office via email for comment Saturday afternoon.
The New York State Police (NYSP) said in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Friday that they have received “numerous reports of drone sightings over the past 24 hours.”
NYSP said they have “no evidence at this point that any of the reported sightings pose a public safety threat.” Authorities said they are investigating each drone sighting report they receive and sharing information with their federal and local law enforcement partners.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a joint statement on 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.”
Hochul said in her Saturday statement that she directed the New York State Intelligence Center in mid-November “to actively investigate drone sightings and coordinate with federal law enforcement to address this issue, and those efforts are ongoing.”
The governor, then urged Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act, so that state police can continue to investigate the mysterious drone sightings.
“This bill would reform legal authorities to counter-UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) and strengthen the FAA’s [Federal Aviation Administration] oversight of drones, and would extend counter-UAS activities to select state and local law enforcement agencies,” she said. “Extending these powers to New York State and our peers is essential. Until those powers are granted to state and local officials, the Biden Administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our critical infrastructure and our people.”
Meanwhile, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy shared a letter on Friday he sent to President Joe Biden that requested more federal resources to investigate the mysterious drone sightings in his state’s airspace.
New Jersey State Police have been getting reports of UAS sightings over the Garden State since November 18, according to Murphy’s letter. While New Jersey has been getting help from the DHS and the FBI, “it has become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity,” Murphy wrote in the letter.
Murphy also called on congressional lawmakers to reauthorize the federal government’s counter-UAS authority in a separate letter dated Thursday and addressed to Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democrat House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
“As New Jersy works alongside our federal partners to identify the sources of these UAS, the clock is ticking on the authorization language that enables us to do so,” Murphy said. “State and local law enforcement entities lack the authority and capability to counter and mitigate UAS, which would significantly hamper our ability to understand what is happening, so it is of utmost importance that this language is reauthorized in a timely manner.”
Murphy also encouraged congressional leaders to “empower” state and local police with “the ability to use advanced detection and mitigation technology.”
Meanwhile, on Friday night, President-elect Donald Trump spoke out in favor of shooting down the mysterious drones if necessary, while suggesting that the Biden administration was withholding information about the sightings.
“Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country,” he wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform. “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.”
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