Well.

People throughout the state want answers about the mysterious drone sightings being reported.

By some estimates, there have been hundreds spotted in new Jersey skies since mid-November.

Now, more and more elected officials are chiming in, sharing their frustrations with the Murphy administration and the federal government over the lack of information being shared.

Elected leaders were asked to joint a briefing in Trenton on Wednesday with the new Jersey State Police and a representative from Homeland Security, but said they left with more questions than answers.

Those who attended say no one could confirm just how many drones are flying over the state, whether they're commercial or hobbyist owned.

The FBI is investigating, and the federal government is reportedly sending new Jersey drone specific radar to help the state investigate the sightings.

Meanwhile, other high level officials, including Governor Murphy, say the number of drones actually flying in our airspace is likely being over reported.

You can count Rob D'Amico among them.

He's spent decades with the FBI and is most recently the former chief of the bureau's counter drone unit.

He joins me now to shed more light on what's really going on.

Rob, thanks for giving us some of your time.

I mean, based on your background, your experience, what's the most likely explanation for these drone sightings?

And what stands out to you about what's been reported in new Jersey?

Well, my most, the thought of this many drones at one, its open air space and their drones can be in there.

They're not not doing anything illegal.

But when I ran the FBI's counter drone in any time we said we're around for, like, the Super Bowl, the World Series, all these big events, when they heard that the FBI counter drone unit was there, they'd all start looking up in the sky.

And at night, manned aircraft.

It's really tough to tell how far they are.

And I truly think that 90% of these sightings are manned aircraft.

When you look at them and the landing lights and the navigation lights and how they fly their manned aircraft, and people have never looked up in the sky before to notice how crowded it is with aircraft up there.

And the problem is, any time, like all the politicians that are coming out and tell people, go look for drones and help out, they're now looking at the sky and especially at night, it's tough.

Also, now drones can be up there, so there are probably a couple of drones in those sightings.

But I'd say 90% of them aren't drones.

And secondly, if if a nation state was flying drones, they're not going to have lights on and they're not going to fly them at an altitude where people can hear.

We do it all the time overseas, if you know what to listen for.

Like with predators and other drones, you can figure it out.

But we never had lights on.

We don't fly at a at an altitude that people are going to hear, especially in a, in a covert setting if you're trying to gather information.

So the state police gave a briefing with the governor with with a bunch of lawmakers from new Jersey, where they said one of the state police choppers was above a six foot drone.

And they decided to veer off.

They didn't feel that it was safe for the, the the pilot of that helicopter.

Are you saying then that perhaps even the state police is is misidentify seeing, which aircraft we're seeing?

I mean, how do you differentiate?

I know you mentioned the lights, the size, the placement of it.

I mean, are there ways that you use to differentiate?

Well, there's systems out there.

And I know new Jersey State Police has as a counter drone system which detects it.

A company I used to be an advisor to, de drone has one of the best systems out there, and they use multiple sensors.

They use radar, they use RF radio frequencies.

How?

You can control a drone.

They use, video to capture what they're seeing.

So there's multiple sensors out there that capture can capture drones.

And it and also they use data and AI on a drone's pattern and how it's flying to predict its movement and stuff.

And they're big in and here in the U.S. and overseas.

If it was a helicopter pilot telling me that, I think I'd give it more, credence.

But there are six foot drones out there.

There's agricultural drones.

But what airspace was it flying over?

And was it flying within the FAA's restrictions?

Of what they're allowed to do.

So it might have been he the helicopter pilot.

Pilot might have seen a drone.

But then again, was it up to nefarious activity, or is it flying in G-rated open airspace and was just doing something, and the pilot encountered it and it was flying within.

It's like 400ft or less or whatever.

It was allowed to fly.

So again, the intent of what that drone was doing, I'm not saying he didn't see it.

A pilot knows a little bit better.

But also, was it visual?

Was it radar?

Where was it at?

I think if you take most of these sightings and you map them out over new Jersey that you would look at, most likely it's by airports where you have manned aircraft and people don't understand and what the lights on a manned aircraft look like now that they're looking up in the sky that they haven't done before.

Should we take or should?

Do you accept that the FBI, isn't exactly sure what's behind who's behind them?

But is reassuring the public that there is, no immediate threat posed.

Or is it more possible that there's information and for, of course, security reasons, they need to withhold it?

I don't think any, any security reasons to to withhold information.

And I don't think the Department of Defense either, because Department of Defense has some systems out there to especially over military bases because of our military base.

The Department of Defense has the counter drone authorities to do what they need to do.

And then FAA around airports.

I think that the FBI's eventually going to bring up their systems, but there's no reason suspect over open airspace where you'll have to fly drones.

That this this investigation has to be like, oh, it's a it's a, you know, nefarious activity over there.

I think Secret Service may have put a temporary flight restriction over the golf course.

They normally only do it when you have a the president or a former president at a location where they put up a TFR to restrict flight, say, over the airport.

But most of the area that we're talking about is probably over open airspace around airports.

The airspace goes out in a different, like I live a few miles from a regional airport.

If I want to fly my drone, it's a little drone.

If I want to fly it, I have to get approval.

And in my area, I can only fly it 300ft and below.

And then if I go above it, I'm, in violation of FAA.

But I have to tell them, and they have my phone number.

So that tells the pilots 300ft below.

So as closer you get to an airport.

The space gets restricted more and more.

And then over an airport, obviously, there's no fly zones.

The government said it will lend, or, I suppose, send, some type of technology to help new Jersey, detect, the drones, identify them.

Are you concerned at all about this lag in understanding what it is, if they are unmanned drones or manned, vehicles and the space that it's created for misinformation to be spread.

We had a congressman yesterday, claiming that, possibly there's a mothership from Iran.

The Pentagon swiftly debunked that.

But there is this environment.

Know when to create for misinformation to be spread.

I think it's caught that the government a little bit by surprise, that the hysteria that's come over and the congressman, that was absolutely irresponsible for him to say he's got, quote, anonymous sources on this ghost ship.

Trust me, if I ran had any ship off the coast, they know about it, as does other government agencies.

But I think you're going to find Htsci and FBI bringing some of their systems up there again to get people, you know, a better feeling about it.

But there was no need before because drones fly all the time in open air space.

There was nothing that was, coming into, I think, manned aircraft.

Like I said, all the videos I've seen that people put on X and other, social media I look at, I'm like, oh, that's an airplane.

When you're used to looking up there, I use an app called Flightradar24.

I actually use it for, for, clients that are flying in so I can track their plane, but they're very accurate because I've been on a plane using it, and it even has me on, on the taxiway.

And that app, you can stand under something and I'll show you all the planes are flying over, even military, Coast guard, government airplanes.

And you can click on it.

And when you see how many airplanes are in certain areas at certain altitudes, you're amazed at how crowded the airspace can be.

And if you're not used to that, then anything up there with lights and the distance at night you can't tell distance.

And my biggest thing is if a nation state was flying against us are terrorists, you're not going to have your navigation lights on.

If the FBI was using drones for surveillance.

Again, you're not going to see them.

They know exactly what level they're heard at.

So I just I think it's history and I think people haven't been used to looking up in the sky and understanding how busy it can be.

Rob D'Amico, thanks so much for your insight.

Appreciate your time.

You're welcome.

Thank you.