Nearly one year after mysterious drones hovered near a top-secret military base in Virginia for 17 days, Sen. Tim Kaine says he is "very frustrated" with "so many unanswered questions" that remain. 

The Virginia Democrat said his state delegation will get a classified briefing on the situation Thursday. 

For more than two weeks in December 2023, the mystery drones flew into restricted airspace over the installation, home to key national security sites and the F-22 Raptor stealth fighters. 

The Pentagon has said little about the incidents other than to confirm they occurred after a Wall Street Journal report in October. If officials know where the drones came from or what they were doing, they haven’t shared it with Congress. 

RENEWAL OF COUNTER-DRONE AUTHORITY, CHINA CRACKDOWNS IN LAST-MINUTE GOVERNMENT FUNDING EXTENSION

"We're kind of at the year anniversary of these incursions at Langley. And I'm very frustrated with the fact that there's still so many unanswered questions," Kaine told Fox News Digital. 

Lack of a standard protocol for such incursions left Langley officials unsure of what to do, other than allow the 20-foot drones to hover near their classified sites. 

As defense-minded lawmakers sought more answers, Langley officials referred them to the FBI, who referred them to Northern Command, who referred them to local law enforcement, one congressional source said. 

"I'm going to keep pushing the federal agencies to get their act together and have a clear agency that's responsible for answering rather than all pointing their fingers at each other and telling us that you got to go to some other agency to get an answer," said Kaine. 

The drones over Langley "don’t appear to be armed, but they are there for at least surveillance purposes. And they interrupted training exercises at Langley."

And during the recent drone phenomenon in New Jersey, unmanned aerial systems (UAS) have been spotted near Picatinny Arsenal and over President-elect Trump's golf club in Bedminster. Trump said he canceled a trip to his golf club due to the drone sightings. 

Drone incursions at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio prompted the base to close its airspace Friday night, and UAS sightings have occurred at U.S. military bases in the United Kingdom and Germany. 

A spending bill that must pass before the end of the week includes a reauthorization of the government's counter-drone authorities. But it is a simple reauthorization of a program many drone experts say is outdated. National security-minded lawmakers and experts have implored Congress to take up legislation that would grant the government greater detection capabilities and give state and local law enforcement the authority to deal with unauthorized drones. 

U.S. capabilities offer many different ways to take down a drone, including shooting them, zapping them with heat lasers and jamming the frequencies so they stop working and fall out of the sky.

Whether Congress needs to change laws is a point of contention, but one thing that is clear is incursions like the one at Langley prompt confusion over legal authority. 

"This is a little bit of a problem of too many cooks. And it's not clear who is the chef," said Kaine. "The FAA is looking at it. The FBI is looking at it. DOD looking at it.

PLANES, STARS AND HOBBYISTS: LAWMAKERS INSIST NOTHING ‘NEFARIOUS’ IS HAPPENING IN NJ SKIES

"This is a lot clearer if there's a drone incursion over a base in a war zone like Syria, for example, or Iraq at a base where U.S. military personnel are positioned. The authorities to knock these drones down in that setting are much clearer than if there's a drone incursion over a base on domestic soil. OK, not going to drone down over the city of Hampton, where the debris might fall into neighborhoods. The authorities on that aren't so clear." 

When drones encroach near bases overseas, the rules of engagement give service members more leeway to engage with them. 

However, U.S. law does not allow the military to shoot down drones near its bases unless they pose an imminent threat. While Langley has the authority to protect its coastal base, the Coast Guard has the authority to protect the waters and the Federal Aviation Administration has authority over U.S. airspace, some of the most congested with commercial airliners in the world. 

Last week, a Chinese national was charged with flying an unauthorized drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. In October, Chinese national Fengyun Shi was sentenced to six months in prison for capturing drone footage over Huntington Ingalls Industries Shipbuilding in Newport News, Virginia, 10 miles from Langley Air Force Base. 

Two months prior to Langley, in October 2023, five drones flew over the Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site, which is used for nuclear weapons experiments. U.S. authorities were not sure who was behind those drones either. 

A Chinese surveillance balloon traversed over the U.S. for a week last year before the Air Force shot it down off the coast. 

The U.S. Air Force’s Plant 42 in California, home to highly classified aerospace development, has also seen a slew of unidentified drone incursions in 2024, prompting flight restrictions around the site. 

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., blocked a Senate bill Wednesday that would have authorized resources for state and local authorities to track drones that have mystified residents across New Jersey and the Northeast in recent weeks. 

Paul objected to the passage of the bill, citing his long-standing concerns over expanding governmental powers. 

"This body must not rush to grant sweeping surveillance powers without proper consideration and debate by the committees of jurisdiction," he said.

'DRONE' SIGHTINGS IN THE NORTHEAST SPARK 'UNFOUNDED' PANIC, SAYS EXPERT

Paul said the bill would "expand federal authority to intercept communications and disrupt drone activity – powers that raise serious concerns for Americans' privacy, civil liberties, and Fourth Amendment protections against unwarranted search and seizure."

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sought to speed a bipartisan bill through the Senate by seeking unanimous consent on the floor before it was blocked by Paul. 

"The people in New York and New Jersey have a lot of questions, and they’re not getting good enough answers," said Schumer. "The utter confusion surrounding these drone sightings shows that the feds can’t respond all on their own."

NJ DRONE SIGHTINGS COULD BE A ‘CLASSIFIED EXERCISE’: FORMER CIA OFFICER

In addition to giving local authorities the ability to track drones, the proposed legislation would expand some federal agencies’ authority to start a pilot program to allow states and local authorities to disrupt, disable or seize a drone without prior consent of the operator.

The drone sightings across the Northeast have worried some local and state officials, but the Biden administration has said the drones don’t appear to be a sign of foreign interference or a public safety threat.

However, they have not determined who is responsible for them. 

President-elect Trump last week called for the administration to release information on the drones or shoot them down. Paul, who has often called for limiting governmental powers, said he objected to the bill because it wasn't clear that urgent action was needed. 

"We're being told that this legislation is urgent, that it is needed to address an imminent drone threat," he said. "Yet the government itself admits no such threat exists."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Congress is set to pass legislation to avert a government shutdown that will reauthorize the government’s ability to intercept and track unauthorized drones and crack down on U.S. investment in China.

The 1,500+ page continuing resolution (CR), which will fund the government until March 14, includes a provision reauthorizing a Department of Homeland Security program allowing agencies to coordinate and counter threats from drones. That authority, passed in 2018, was set to expire Friday – at a time when concerns about drone incursions are at an all-time high. 

However, it is a simple reauthorization of a program many drone experts say is outdated. Congress has not hashed out legislation that would grant the government greater detection capabilities and give state and local law enforcement authorities to deal with unauthorized drones. 

"The security industry wants folks to know the technology is out there to identify and socially mitigate these drones," Brett Fedderson, chair of the Security Industry Association’s Counter-UAS Working Group, told Fox News Digital. 

"Congress is not enabling state and local law enforcement to actually do the work that is needed on the front lines, regardless of the fact that the FBI, DHS, DOJ have all come to Congress several times and said they cannot do the job effectively, that they need to be able to be supported by state and local law enforcement."

PLANES, STARS AND HOBBYISTS: LAWMAKERS INSIST NOTHING ‘NEFARIOUS’ IS HAPPENING IN NJ SKIES

"We are worried that a drone catastrophe is going to be the motivation for them to sit down at the table and actually vote on something to push the authorities out." 

A drone phenomenon that started in New Jersey a month ago has since led to 6,000 tips being called in to the FBI. Umanned aerial systems (UAS) have since been reported flying near military bases like Picatinny Arsenal. 

"The idea of drone detection needs to be reformed," said Ryan Gury, CEO of military drone manufacturer PDW. "We need radar instead of listening to radio waves… an active approach where we have radar stations and camera stations set up like cell towers to detect things like drones."

"There’s no stopping the power of small drones. We need to be ready. This is just a small glimpse into our future." 

Also included in the CR is a provision that was left out of the NDAA and would prevent the U.S. from investing in the development of military technologies.

The rule prohibits U.S. financing of some China-based ventures and requires Americans to notify the government of their involvement in others. 

It restricts and monitors U.S. investments in artificial intelligence, computer chips and quantum computing, all of which have a dual use in the defense and commercial sectors. 

NJ DRONE INCIDENTS SPUR GOVERNMENT PUSH FOR MORE COUNTER-DRONE POWERS AS CURRENT AUTHORITIES SET TO EXPIRE

The rule seeks to limit the access "countries of concern," like China, including the Hong Kong and Macao regions, have to U.S. dollars to fund the development of high-level technologies like next-generation missile systems and fighter jets they could then use for their own military. It is set to take effect Jan. 2.  

Lawmakers have criticized financial institutions for pouring billions of dollars from U.S. investors into Chinese stocks of companies the U.S. believes the CCP is using to build up China’s military. 

The legislation codifies a recent Treasury Department rule restricting outbound investment in China and expands on it, including a requirement to investigate the national security risks posed by Chinese-made consumer routers and modems and implement reviews of Chinese real estate purchases near sensitive sites like military installations. 

It would also require the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to publish every company that holds an FCC license and is owned or partially owned by adversarial governments like China.

The CR, released Tuesday night, is a short-term extension of government funding at 2024 levels intended to give lawmakers more time to agree on funding for the rest of 2025. It is the second such extension since FY 2024 ended on Sept. 30.

It must pass the GOP-controlled House and Democrat-controlled Senate by Friday and hit President Biden’s desk by midnight that day to avoid a partial government shutdown. It is expected to pass both chambers, despite grumblings from both chambers, particularly among conservatives who want to cut costs in the 2025 budget. 

Fox News' Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Wednesday rebuffed the Biden-Harris administration's response to recent drone sightings in New Jersey, decrying how federal authorities have given no clear answers to Congress on their origin. 

In a Fox News appearance, Johnson agreed that the White House, and more broadly the U.S. government, does not seem concerned about the increased sightings in New Jersey and elsewhere in the Northeast. 

"Look, I'm the speaker of the House. I have the exact same frustrations that you do and all of us do. We don't have the answers. The administration is not providing them," Johnson said. 

Johnson said he set up a meeting last week with officials from the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the FBI, and "the answers are not forthcoming."

TRUMP SAYS THE GOVERNMENT 'KNOWS WHAT IS HAPPENING' WITH MYSTERIOUS DRONES

"They just say 'don't worry about it, it's not foreign entities, there's not a vessel offshore doing this, and they're not collecting any data.' OK, then what is it?" Johnson said. 

"You heard Mayorkas, who no one believes, we impeached him in the House as you know, the DHS secretary, he said in an interview a couple days ago, well because they changed the regulations to allow drones to fly at night, that's why everybody's seeing them now. They've always been there. I mean, look, people are not buying the answers," Johnson said. "We are digging in further to get the answers, and we're demanding that the administration do its job. We gotta protect Americans, protect our intelligence, of course, and our data and everything else. We're going to get down to the bottom of it, but we don't have the answers yet."

Johnson referenced how Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told ABC News on Monday that there are thousands of drones flown every day in the U.S., and that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in September 2023 "changed the rules so that drones could fly at night, and that may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before, especially from dawn until dusk." 

Mayorkas also said it was "critical" for Congress to expand authorities for state and local agencies to counter drone activity "under federal supervision." 

Johnson reacted to President Biden telling reporters at the White House on Tuesday that there was "nothing nefarious" happening with the drones, and that so far, there has been "no sense of danger."

"This is why we need Donald J. Trump back in the White House to bring steady hands at the wheel and a strong commander-in-chief," Johnson said. "He would have already had the answers, he would have already delivered to the American people and certainly to members of Congress. So leadership matters. That's why he got the mandate. That's why the American people can't wait for the America First agenda to start, and we can't wait either."

Federal authorities said Monday evening that the reported drone sightings have been identified as legal commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned aircraft, helicopters and even stars. Officials said that assessment was based on technical data and tips.

The House Intelligence Committee grilled federal law enforcement and intelligence officials about the drones during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., told CNN. 

Authorities told the panel there still is no evidence of public safety or national security threats, Himes said.

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday that drone-detection equipment supplied by the federal government has yielded little new information. He declined to describe the equipment, except to say it was powerful and could even disable the drones, though he said that is not legal on U.S. soil. Murphy urged Congress to give states more authority to deal with the drones.

TRUMP TALKS MYSTERY DRONES, TIKTOK BAN, RFK JR. AND MORE IN HOUR-LONG PRESS CONFERENCE

Meanwhile, the FBI and New Jersey state police warned against pointing lasers at suspected drones, because aircraft pilots are being hit in the eyes more often. Authorities also said they are concerned people might fire weapons at manned aircraft that they have mistaken for drones.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday that the federal government has yet to identify any public safety or national security risks from any of the reported drone sightings in the northeast, saying officials believe they were lawfully flown drones, planes or stars.

"There are more than 1 million drones that are lawfully registered with the Federal Aviation Administration here in the United States," Kirby said. "And there are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day. That is the ecosystem that we are dealing with."

The federal government has deployed personnel and advanced technology to investigate the reports in New Jersey and other states, and is evaluating each tip reported by citizens, he said.

About 100 of the more than 5,000 drone sightings reported to the FBI in recent weeks were deemed credible enough to warrant more investigation, according to a joint statement by DHS, FBI, FAA and the Department of Defense. 

Speculation has raged online, with some expressing concerns that the drones could be part of a nefarious plot by foreign agents.

Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said it Is unlikely the drones are engaged in intelligence gathering, given how loud and bright they are. He repeated Tuesday that the drones being reported are not being operated by the Department of Defense. When asked whether military contractors might be operating drones in the New Jersey area, Ryder rebuffed the notion, saying there are "no military operations, no military drone or experiment operations in this corridor."

Ryder said additional drone-detecting technology was being moved to some military installations, including the Picatinny Arsenal and at Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey, where drones also have been reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The FBI field office in Newark urged New Jersey residents this week not to shoot down drones or point lasers at manned aircraft, taking to social media to warn against the dangerous — and possibly deadly — activity, which comes amid an uptick in reported drone sightings along the U.S. East Coast.

The drone sightings have prompted a collective sense of panic among residents, who have taken to social media to share photos and videos of believed drones captured in the darkened U.S. skies. The shared sense of fear-mongering has also prompted some vigilante-like responses, with some social media users documenting efforts to take matters into their own hands, including via laser beam. 

In the statement, released by the FBI and New Jersey State Police, authorities expressly warned against such activities, citing an increase in pilots of manned aircraft in the area who have been hit in the eyes with lasers after being misidentified as a drone by someone on the ground. 

'DRONE' SIGHTINGS IN THE NORTHEAST SPARK 'UNFOUNDED' PANIC, SAYS EXPERT

Officials said there is also a concern that people on the ground could also mistakenly fire weapons at what they believe to be an Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or UAS, but is in fact a manned aircraft.

"FBI Newark, NJSP, and dozens of other agencies and law enforcement partners have been out every night for several weeks to legally track down operators acting illegally or with nefarious intent and using every available tool and piece of equipment to find the answers the public is seeking," the authorities said in the statement. "However, there could be dangerous and possibly deadly consequences if manned aircraft are targeted mistakenly as UAS."

They also noted how easy it can be for an individual on the ground to mistake a manned aircraft for a UAS. 

"Misidentification often occurs when UAS are mistaken for more familiar objects such as manned aircraft, low-orbit satellites, or celestial bodies like planets or stars," they said. 

"To improve accuracy and prevent false sightings, a variety of tools and techniques can be used to assist with the visual identification of suspected UAS. Accurate identification is critical for maintaining safety and ensuring appropriate responses to UAS activity."

MORE THAN 20 DAYS INTO PHENOMENON, PENTAGON STILL HAS NO ANSWERS ABOUT ORIGINS OF MYSTERIOUS NJ DRONES

The statement from the FBI field office and state police comes as New Jersey residents and lawmakers have voiced frustrations about the uptick in drone sightings and what they view as a lack of answers they have been given by the federal government in response.

Still, U.S. officials have sought to emphasize that the aircraft in question are not, in fact, a national security threat. Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, stressed to reporters during a briefing Tuesday that the drones are any sort of government asset, and ruled out the notion that they were any part of "experimental program" being tested by the U.S.

In a joint statement Monday, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense said that, while they "recognize the concern" from the general public, there is no evidence that the drones are "anomalous" or a threat to public safety or to U.S. national security.

Separately, senior officials from the CIA, FBI, and DOD traveled to Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon to brief lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee on the uptick in drone sightings.

It is unclear, however, how far these efforts have gone to thwart the rise in public concerns.

The FBI said Monday that it has received more than 5,000 reports of alleged drone sightings in the last "few weeks" — reflecting the rise in panic from some residents, including many who have taken to social media to document their sightings on social media. 

Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, R-Conn., used an interview on "Fox News Sunday" to call on more federal agencies — including the Federal Aviation Administration — to share more information about the drone sightings with the public.

"The FAA in particular, which is the agency of jurisdiction through the domestic skies, ought to be out Saturday morning saying, ‘Let’s show you a picture at the number of aircraft, commercial and private and military, that go over New Jersey in any 24-hour period,’" Himes said.

"Just putting information out there to fill that vacuum would be helpful," he added.

Lawmakers exiting a classified briefing with U.S. intelligence officials insisted they received assurances nothing "nefarious" is going on with the recent uptick in drone sightings in New Jersey. 

On Tuesday, U.S. officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security and Defense Department privately briefed members of the House Intelligence Committee in an effort to assuage growing fears over sightings of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and fresh calls for federal action.

"There's no evidence that anybody acted unlawfully here, or that any of these drones, in as much as the authorities know anything about them, are associated with anybody with malign intent," Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., ranking member of the committee, told reporters after the briefing.

"I don't think we have any reason to believe that they are hiding information. And, again, we asked an extraordinarily detailed series of questions of 28 people over a period of three hours." 

'DRONE' SIGHTINGS IN THE NORTHEAST SPARK 'UNFOUNDED' PANIC, SAYS EXPERT

But the uptick in alleged drone sightings along the East Coast has touched off panicked calls for an investigation from residents and state lawmakers. The FBI has received more than 6,000 tips from the public on mysterious drone sightings. 

One theory can definitively be ruled out, according to Himes. The drones are not the work of a classified government operation, he said. 

"We asked this question over and over and over again," he said, "They are not [linked to the U.S. government]. We were assured." 

Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder stressed to reporters that the drones seen along the East Coast are not a DOD asset.  

Instead, the running theory among U.S. officials seems to be that there is no one reason behind the phenomenon, and many of the sightings called in to law enforcement are planes, helicopters or hobbyist drones operating lawfully. 

"There is no evident threat coming from any place. These are just traditional planes, drones, stars, private planes — all the things that are typically in our skies," said Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.

Rep. Chris Smith, a New Jersey Republican and outspoken critic of the Biden administration’s response to the drones, told Fox News Digital in an interview Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation as early as this week that would allow state police to better handle the drone threat, including tracking the unmanned aircraft and, if necessary, taking them down.

But Smith said Tuesday he sees the bill as a "very real extension of a capability that is needed right now" in the U.S. defense space.

"There's more vulnerability here that anyone wants to accept, but we need to take action — decisive action," Smith said.

On Friday, government agencies will lose their counter-drone authority without an FAA reauthorization from Congress. An extension of that authority is expected to be included in spending legislation to keep the government open, but security-minded lawmakers are pushing for more extensive reform to grant state and local law enforcement the authority to intercept and identify drones and equip them with radar detection capabilities.

"We got a lot of answers. Quite frankly, the technology of drones has outpaced the law," said Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill. "We have to work in a bipartisan manner to plug some holes within the law in terms of who is allowed to operate drones in what manner and how do you disable or deal with drones in improper airspace."

NJ DRONE SIGHTINGS COULD BE A ‘CLASSIFIED EXERCISE’: FORMER CIA OFFICER

On Monday, the DHS, FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Pentagon issued a joint statement noting that, while they "recognize the concern" from the public, there is no evidence that the drones are "anomalous" or a threat to national security.

The drone complaints began pouring in last month in New Jersey, where witnesses and residents first began reporting drone sightings off of coastal areas, including off of Cape May, a scenic town roughly 50 miles south of Atlantic City along the Jersey Shore. 

More recently, lawmakers in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland have reported new drone sightings in their home states, with some witnesses claiming the aircraft in question have been the "size of cars" or seen flying above sensitive infrastructure or in restricted airspace. 

Krishnamoorthi insisted he was "satisfied" with the answers he got from the briefing, but the government needs to do more to assuage the concerns of the public. 

"The public needs to see for themselves what these government officials have concluded and the technology that's been used." 

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Monday that he will move to advance drone legislation this week that will give local officials more authority to respond to the growing concerns of drone sightings.

Reports of drones flying over New Jersey and New York, particularly near military research facilities and Trump’s Bedminster golf course, have prompted lawmakers to press the Biden administration for more transparency when it comes to who is flying the suspected unmanned aircraft and why the government is not doing anything about them.

Schumer has called on Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to "quickly deploy" any drone-detecting tools that are available to help New York and New Jersey deal with the mysterious drone sightings that started a few weeks ago.

"This week, I will also come to the floor of the Senate to seek passage of legislation that will give local officials greater authority to swiftly respond to these sightings," Schumer said while speaking on the Senate floor on Monday. "The reports of the past few weeks have ignited immense anxiety and confusion for millions of people living across the Northeast. Thankfully, there is no reason to believe these drone sightings pose a national security threat, but even so they can be disruptive if they fly over restricted airspace particularly near airports or bases."

SCHUMER REQUESTS 360-DEGREE RADAR SYSTEM FOR NY, NJ TO DETECT DRONES

He continued, saying there was no shortage of reports of possible drone activity, yet there are few answers being provided about where some of the drones originated from and who was operating them.

Local officials lack the resources and authority to find the underlying cause of the matter, Schumer added.

NJ DRONE SIGHTINGS COULD BE A ‘CLASSIFIED EXERCISE’: FORMER CIA OFFICER

Along with seeking the Senate’s help in passing the legislation, Schumer also urged the DHS to take all necessary action to deploy as many drone-detecting resources as possible.

One of those technologies is the Robin Radar System, which, according to its website, notes "bird, bat, or drone, our 360° radar systems log thousands of observations, scanning every second to track and classify with precision."

DRONE MYSTERY CONTINUES IN NEW JERSEY AS EXPERTS OFFER NEW THEORIES ABOUT SIGHTINGS

Schumer said systems like Robin would go a long way to help local officials collect real data about where these drones are coming from.

"I want to see a flock of ROBIN-like technology systems deployed across the New York City metro area," he said. "So, we need the Department of Homeland Security to spring into action."

The House Intelligence Committee will receive a classified briefing on the drone activity on Tuesday afternoon, a source familiar with the matter told Punchbowl News. The news agency also said Biden administration officials from the FBI, Department of Defense, CIA, and Office of the Director of National Intelligence will hold the briefing.

Fox News Digital's Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

The mysterious drone phenomenon centered in New Jersey has prompted government officials to issue fresh calls for expanded power as their counter-drone authorization is set to expire this week. 

The current drone-countering authorities — authorized as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 — grant both the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) authority to use advanced detection technologies to identify, track and intercept drones that aren’t complying with the law.

The 2018 measure exempts the agencies from other laws that prevent interference with aircraft and wiretapping without a warrant. It expires on Dec. 20, and lawmakers must attach a last-minute extension to a stopgap spending bill to fund the government this week in order to prevent a lapse. 

But government officials say the 11th hour, piecemeal approach harms their ability to counter drone threats.

"We cannot appropriately budget, we can’t strategically plan for the future," Steven Willoughby, deputy director of the Department of Homeland Security’s counter-drone office, said during a security forum last week. 

"The administration has been seeking, for several years now, additional authorities to expand the counter-UAS authorities, both of the federal government, which are themselves very limited, and also to give state and local authorities the authority to use certain C-UAS technologies with federal oversight," a senior Biden administration official told reporters on a call over the weekend. "That legislation has been pending."

DRONE MYSTERY: NEW JERSEY HOMEOWNERS THREATEN TO TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS IF GOVERNMENT DOESN'T ACT

A DHS official said that while there is "no known malicious activity in New Jersey," the sightings there "highlight a gap in our current authorities, and so we would also urge Congress to pass our important counter-UAS legislation." 

The White House-backed Counter-UAS Authority, Security and Reauthorization Act of 2024 would expand the government’s drone authorities and renew them until 2028 — and add new state and local drone authorities. 

But a separate, bipartisan House plan would scale back the proposed state and local authorities in favor of authorizing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to take down drones, instead of just regulating their use in airspace. 

But lawmakers don’t have time to hash out their disputes over which agency should get what authority before agencies lose their powers entirely — so the narrow extension of authority attached to the stopgap measure is only expected to last a matter of months.

DRONE EXPERTS RULE OUT US GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENT, UNSURE OF OTHER NEW JERSEY DRONE PHENOMENON THEORIES

For nearly a month, New Jersey residents have alerted authorities to sightings of mysterious drones, some as wide as six feet, hovering in the sky at night. Sightings have ranged from 4 to 180, and some of them seem to be operating in a coordinated manner, and some unmanned aerial systems have been spotted near the Army's Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle.

Law enforcement has been able to offer little explanation for the phenomenon — but steered the public away from the assumption that the drones originate with a foreign adversary. 

"To date, we have no intelligence or observations that would indicate that they were aligned with a foreign actor or that they had malicious intent," a Defense Department official told reporters over the weekend. "But I just got to simply tell you we don’t know."

"We have not been able to locate or identify the operators or the points of origin. We have very limited authorities when it comes to moving off base," the official added. 

"We’re also significantly restricted, and rightfully so — in fact, prohibited — from intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance here in the homeland." 

Additional unauthorized drone sightings have been recorded near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, where officials closed the airspace for four hours due to the sighting, and Ramstein U.S. Air Force Base in Germany in recent days. 

President-elect Trump claims that President Biden's administration "knows what is happening" regarding unexplained drone sightings over New Jersey, New York and other states.

Trump made the statement Monday during a lengthy press conference with reporters at Mar-a-Lago, saying the U.S. military certainly knows the origin of the drones.

"The government knows what is happening. Look, our military knows where they took off from. If it's a garage they can go right inside. They know where it came from and where it went," Trump said.

"For some reason, they don't want to comment, and I think they'd be better off saying what it is. Our military knows. Our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense," he continued. "I can't imagine it's the enemy, because if it was the enemy they'd blast it."

NJ DRONE SIGHTINGS COULD BE A ‘CLASSIFIED EXERCISE’: FORMER CIA OFFICER

A reporter then asked Trump whether he had received any classified briefings regarding the drone situation. He responded that "I don't want to comment on that."

Trump's statement comes roughly a day after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on the Department of Homeland Security to deploy 360-degree radar systems capable of detecting drones to the New York and New Jersey regions.

DRONE MYSTERY CONTINUES IN NEW JERSEY AS EXPERTS OFFER NEW THEORIES ABOUT SIGHTINGS

"Our local people who have questions about these drones should not have to shake an eight ball to get an answer," Schumer said, holding up a magic eight ball toy in one hand and an image of a drone in another.

"They want real answers, and the Robin can supply those answers, and that's why we want them here," Schumer said, likely referencing the Dutch company Robin Radar Systems, which produces such systems.

2 MASSACHUSETTS MEN ARRESTED FOR FLYING DRONE ‘DANGEROUSLY CLOSE’ TO BOSTON AIRPORT

The website of Robin Radar Systems notes, "Bird, bat, or drone, our 360° radar systems log thousands of observations, scanning every second to track and classify with precision."

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement on Sunday, "In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system to New York State." 

Fox News' Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.

President-elect Trump on Saturday seized on the mysterious drone controversy in New Jersey to mock one-time ally turned nemesis Chris Christie. 

The president-elect, who will take office in just over a month, shared an AI-generated meme of the former New Jersey governor eating McDonald’s with more McDonald’s meals being delivered by drones, mocking his weight on Truth Social and X. 

Christie endorsed Trump in 2016 but was later axed as the head of his transition team. 

Last year, Christie had a short-lived presidential campaign for the 2024 election during which he called Trump a "coward" and a "puppet of Putin," but he dropped out in January.

TRUMP BRINGS POLITICAL DRAMA TO ARMY-NAVY GAME SIDELINES

"I want to promise you this, I’m going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again. And that’s more important than my own personal ambition," he said when he dropped out. 

Christie’s weight has been a frequent target for Trump since their falling-out. Last year, Trump jokingly told a supporter to not call the former governor a "fat pig." 

Since mid-November, New Jersey residents have been baffled by unexplained sightings of what appear to be drones. 

NEW JERSEY LAWMAKER CALLS FOR LIMITED STATE OF EMERGENCY TO COMBAT MYSTERIOUS DRONES

The sightings have also been reported in other areas of the country, including military installations, prompting lawmakers to demand answers. 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and law enforcement have said the drones don’t appear to be a threat to public safety. 

On Friday, Trump called for the drones to be shot down if there’s no reasonable explanation for them. 

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"Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge," he wrote on Truth Social. "I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!"

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

A New Jersey state Senator is calling on Gov. Phil Murphy to declare a state of emergency to ground all drones as a way of getting to the bottom of ongoing reports of unmanned craft swarming the Garden State in recent weeks. 

State Sen. Jon Bramnick, a Republican, told "Cavuto Live" on Saturday that he also wants the FAA to join in the state of emergency as the public becomes increasingly frustrated with a lack of answers as to what is going on in the skies. 

Bramnick says he has contacted Murphy about enacting a state of emergency but has not gotten a response.  

DRONE MYSTERY BEFUDDLES NEW JERSEY OFFICIALS, FRUSTRATES RESIDENTS

"I've gotten silence and we met with the state police [who] have no information. Can you imagine? The Department of Defense must have some serious secret if we can't get any information on car-sized drones flying over our military bases."

A series of unidentified drone sightings near U.S. military installations and over residences have been spotted in New Jersey since mid-November, including President-elect Trump’s Bedminster golf course, which is causing alarm. Apparent drones have also been spotted in New York City, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, among other states, as well as over three US airbases in the UK.

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby has said many of the purported drone sightings are actually lawfully operated manned aircraft and that there is no evidence of a national security or public safety threat.

FORMER GOVERNOR SPOTS MYSTERY DRONES IN MARYLAND, BLASTS FEDS FOR LACK OF TRANSPARENCY

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Friday said the government doesn't have the authority to shoot down drones and believes reports of some sightings are cases of mistaken identity.

The apparent lack of transparency about the situation has fueled conspiracy theories and raised national security concerns that a foreign entity may be behind the mysterious sightings. 

The government’s dismissal of witness reports is also irking residents who believe the government's answers are insufficient. Some have threatened to take matters into their own hands and shoot them down.

"Every time someone comes out of the top secret briefing, we get the same answer," Bramnick said. "’Well, we need more information,’ but apparently it's not a threat. Now, I don't know how they're determining that. The Defense Department must be speaking to someone because they're surely not speaking to any of the residents in New Jersey."

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"The Department of Defense has to explain why they don't know what a car-sized drone is doing, where it came from, where it's going. Is it sinister? Is there some sort of threat? Don't you think the Department of Defense should have that information? The technology is there."

Bramnick says that the state does not have the proper equipment or resources to deal with drones. He notes that the Garden State only has two state helicopters, and when one of those choppers was sent up to investigate a drone, its lights turned off and it fled. 

"Now, that's an indication that the drone is not here for a good purpose, otherwise I assume somebody operating the drone would tell the state police what they're doing. That's why we have to ground all drones at this time," Bramnick added. 

An uptick in alleged drone sightings along the East Coast touched off a flurry of panicked calls for investigation on Friday from residents and state lawmakers, even as public officials stress the aircraft in question are, in fact, being flown lawfully, and a retired port authority aviation expert tells Fox News Digital that fears are overblown.

The drone complaints began pouring in last month in New Jersey, where witnesses and residents first began reporting drone sightings off of coastal areas, including off of Cape May, a scenic town located outside of Atlantic City.

More recently, lawmakers in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland have reported new alleged drone sightings in their home states, with some witnesses alleging the aircraft in question have been the "size of cars" or seen flying above sensitive infrastructure or in restricted airspace.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, told reporters on Friday he had written to President Biden to share his concerns about the fresh reports of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) sightings in New Jersey airspace, and called for more federal resources to investigate the issue.

"It has become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity," Murphy wrote in the letter.

DRONE MYSTERY: NEW JERSEY HOMEOWNERS THREATEN TO TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS IF GOVERNMENT DOESN'T ACT

Other lawmakers in the state have gone even further, calling for the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to join in their investigations into the unmanned aircraft, with one Garden State lawmaker urging the objects be "shot down" if necessary.

​​"We are literally being invaded by drones," Pequannock Mayor Ryan Herbwe told reporters on Wednesday night following a town hall meeting in New Jersey. 

"We have no idea who is doing [this] and where they're coming from." 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., issued a statement on Friday citing concerns "about the potential for these unmanned aerial vehicles — many of which are as large as a car — to disrupt air traffic and, more alarmingly, to be used maliciously to threaten national security."

These remarks have added to a growing collective sense of panic — but a panic that many in the law enforcement community say is both unfounded and unnecessary. 

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby sought to assuage these fears, stressing during a press briefing Thursday that there is "no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus." 

Others in the law enforcement community also echoed this sentiment. Retired Port Authority Police Detective Lt. John Ryan told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday that the uptick in activity is likely due to two things.

HOMEOWNERS THREATEN TO TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS IF GOVERNMENT DOESN’T ACT

The first, he said, is that drones are a fast-evolving technology that has seen a boom in both recreational and commercial use in the U.S. in the last 10 years. Federal data on drone registration reflects this sharp uptick in use, most if not all of which is legal. As of October of this year, there were more than 790,000 drones registered with the Federal Aviation Association (FAA), and nearly 400,000 registered commercial drones. 

That's "just to give you an idea" of the magnitude of the number of legal drones in the U.S., said Ryan, whose extensive police career included serving for a decade as the emergency service special operations commander at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, and then later, the chief officer of the Port Authority, whose role includes oversight of all transportation facilities, including Kennedy, LaGuardia and all other airports and ports in the area.

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TRUMP FINDINGS TO DOJ BEFORE LEAVING. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The second mistake, Ryan said, is that the individuals in question are asking the wrong authorities for help.

"The mistake I see people making is that they're going to the wrong agencies and asking these questions," he added.

The FAA is the federal body tasked with registering drones and other U.S. aircraft. It’s also the one tasked with monitoring recreational and commercial drone use in the U.S.

"In New Jersey, they've been asking the FBI, they've been asking the Department of Homeland Security — they've been asking everybody except the people that they should be asking," said Ryan.

The Pentagon also reiterated this view, noting that an initial assessment had shown the drones were not from another country, and were not shot down because they were not deemed a threat to national security.

Kirby echoed this sentiment on Thursday. Asked whether the U.S. would consider banning drone use in U.S. airspace, he told reporters, "I don't know that we're at a stage right now where we're considering that" as a policy option.

Drone experts have little idea what the dozens of drone sightings over New Jersey could be, but have ruled out the possibility that they might be the work of a classified government program. 

They say the lack of a clear image or any residual hardware makes it difficult to make any guesses. 

"Until something is found, it’s really difficult to say," said Brett Velicovich, Fox News contributor and CEO of Expert Drones. "We haven’t seen any clear images."

The drone sightings were first reported nearly a month ago – on Nov. 18 – and have been spotted every night from about dusk until around 11 p.m.

The drones are "six feet in diameter," fly in a coordinated way with their lights off and "appear to avoid detection by traditional methods," according to New Jersey state Rep. Dawn Fantasia, who relayed a briefing given by law enforcement. Reports have ranged from four to 180 sightings per night, throughout New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.

With little information on their origin from law enforcement, public speculation has run wild. 

Velicovich poured cold water on the idea that the drones could be part of a classified government test – one theory circulated to explain the lack of information shared with the public. 

"I find it hard to believe," said Velicovich. "Maybe it started that way, and now people think everything they see is a drone . . . . I’ve seen a lot of images that look like planes. 

But he said that when he worked on classified drone projects, the protocol was always to inform local police. 

MORE THAN 20 DAYS INTO PHENOMENON, PENTAGON STILL HAS NO ANSWERS ABOUT ORIGINS OF MYSTERIOUS NJ DRONES

"There's a reason why we test stuff in Area 51 or all these remote locations, so that you don't have to cause public hysteria. And then when we would test stuff in cities, we would always, whenever we do secret exercises in cities, we would always inform the local police." 

Stacie Pettyjohn, drone expert with the Center for New American Security, agreed. "They would be doing it on a military base or a testing facility. And you know, they're not overflying sort of sensitive industrial locations, like they have been in New Jersey." 

Both experts agreed that what could have started off as drones may now have developed into a public panic, where everything in the air is assumed to be a drone. They said it could also be photographic drones looking to pick up images of the drone phenomenon, adding to the panic. 

"People are gonna start to see what they expect to see," said Pettyjohn. 

"No one has shown me a clear photograph of a drone," said Velicovich. 

"Either it's just overblown right now, and everything in the air is a drone, or, you've got a lot of planes in the area that are probably trying to pick up, take photographs and detect stuff and see what's really going on."

The FBI, in a statement, suggested that many of the drone sightings had turned out to be planes.

"We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security  or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus," a joint FBI and Department of Homeland Security statement said Thursday. 

"We are supporting local law enforcement in New Jersey with numerous detection methods but have not corroborated any of the reported visual sightings with electronic detection. To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully. There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace."

​​NEW JERSEY DRONE SIGHTINGS: MILITARY ANALYSTS BREAK DOWN NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS, DOUBT HOBBYISTS AT PLAY

The FBI revealed this week its budget for counter-drone technology is a mere $500,000 per year. 

Earlier this week, Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., said that the drones may be linked to an Iranian "mothership," a theory that prompted the Pentagon to say that it had seen no evidence the drones could have come from a U.S. adversary. 

Velicovich said he "isn’t sold" that the drones are foreign in origin, but U.S. adversaries would have the capability to be behind the occurrences. 

"If we go with the theory that it's foreign, China, Russia, Iran, they all have systems that can travel over large amounts of terrain, over oceans and and carry other drones with it. So that's not the difficult thing that's happening every single day right now in countries like Ukraine." 

Pettyjohn assumed that the drones would need to be operated by someone within the U.S. 

"I would assume that it's someone who's here locally, which may be a spy, which may be a nefarious actor, but that they're they're individuals on the ground, and it's just easier to blend in and difficult to identify who they are and where they are with these rather innocuous systems," she said. 

"They can be in the air probably on the order of, like, five hours or so, or less, and a lot of them, it's way less than that. And that just means that they have to be someone probably physically here, [who] is flying them." 

China expert Gordon Chang mused that the drones could be an adversary merely looking to offer a form of distraction. 

If it were intended as an attack, "you wouldn't put on this big display over the course of days . . . with these very large objects and flashing lights. You're not going to advertise a drone attack on the U.S.," Chang said. 

"I think that they're trying to attract our attention, distract us from something that's happening elsewhere," he said. "So, I worry about what is going on that we're not paying attention to because of the drones."

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said he is "frustrated" by the government's lack of transparency surrounding the recent drone sightings in his state and surrounding areas in the mid-Atlantic region.

On Capitol Hill on Thursday, the senator said that he has issued a letter asking for more information because Americans should be aware of what is happening in the skies.

"I’ve been a little frustrated," he told reporters. "There hasn't been enough transparency letting people know what's happening. It's allowing a lot of potentially misinformation to spread, or at least fear. We should know what's going on over our skies."

LEGISLATORS ACROSS POLITICAL SPECTRUM ‘EQUALLY ANGRY’ OVER HANDLING OF DRONE SIGHTINGS: NEW JERSEY LAWMAKER

Booker said he has been hearing from his constituents and other elected leaders, all of whom share his concerns about the mysterious drones.

"We have agencies and organizations from the government that should be able to provide a lot more information than the public has," he said, adding that the public should have "good information" on a situation that is "understandably concerning."

The senator also worries that the lack of transparency about the drones could potentially fuel misinformation.

"I've heard a lot of things about them, and again, I want to make sure that we have all the facts," he said.

NEW JERSEY RESIDENT CAPTURES VIDEO OF SUSPECTED DRONES HOVERING OUTSIDE HER HOME

When asked if he thinks the drones should be shot down, Booker had an opinion differing from fellow congressman, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who clearly stated they should be, if necessary.

"Safety first. You're over populous neighborhoods and areas," Booker said. "I think the most important thing right now is the safety and security of our communities, but we should know what's going on."

Large drones were first spotted in New Jersey on Nov. 18, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed earlier this month. 

The White House said in a daily press briefing on Thursday that a newly-started investigation into the drones has not revealed anything malicious, criminal or threatening to national security, thus far.

A New Jersey lawmaker says he "can't believe" how the government is wording its investigation into recent drone sightings across northeast America.

State Assemblyman Paul Kanitra joined "Fox News @ Night" on Thursday to discuss the bipartisan outrage at how the government is handling the drone sightings.

"We're a polarized society, but I can tell you when we were in ‘The Rock,’ our security building in New Jersey, and we had a hundred state legislators from across the political spectrum – upper house, lower house – everyone was equally angry at this situation," Kanitra said.

NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR RECEIVING BACKLASH FOR LACK OF CLARITY ON DRONE SIGHTINGS

The first drone sighting took place in New Jersey on Nov. 18, the Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month, prompting the agency to issue two temporary flight restrictions.

Kanitra said he learned during an intelligence briefing for state legislators on Wednesday that there have been confirmed drone sightings "every night since then."

In a Facebook post, Kanitra said he implored the Department of Homeland Security during that briefing to "take swift and decisive action" against the drones, describing the situation as "infuriating."

NJ LAWMAKER FIRES BACK AFTER PENTAGON DISMISSES CLAIM DRONES MAY BE LINKED TO IRAN: 'WEAKNESS AND STUPIDITY'

On Thursday, the White House said an investigation is in its beginning stages, but nothing, thus far, has revealed malicious or criminal intent, or a national security threat.

"If these are foreign adversaries with these drones, and we're a month into this already and we haven't done nearly enough, I can't believe that our government is wording this the way that they are," he said on "Fox News @ Night."

Kanitra took a picture from a distance of apparent drones in the New Jersey sky on Thursday night.

He said "these are not hobbyist drones" and the military should have the technology needed to get quality photos.

A U.S. Senator from Connecticut said the mysterious drones spotted recently flying over states in the mid-Atlantic region should be "shot down, if necessary."

In an interview on Capitol Hill Thursday, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said intelligence analysis is needed on the drones and the U.S. must act "more aggressively" against the sightings that have been reported.

"We should be doing some very smart intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they're flying over airports or military bases," the senator said. "They should be shot down, if necessary, because they're flying over sensitive areas."

Blumenthal also said the lack of information on the drones, who they belong to and where they have come from is "absolutely unacceptable."

DRONES SPOTTED OVER CONNECTICUT SKY IN LATEST PHENOMENON

His comments come as many large drones have been reported flying over New Jersey in the past few weeks. Drones were also allegedly spotted in Blumenthal's state for the first time on Thursday.

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said Thursday that many of the alleged drones spotted recently are actually lawfully operated manned aircraft.

"We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus," Kirby told reporters at the daily White House press briefing. "The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI are investigating these sightings, and they're working closely with state and local law enforcement to provide resources using numerous detection methods to better understand their origin."

Kirby also said, thus far, the investigation into the alleged drones has not revealed "any national security or malicious intent or criminal activity," but admitted the government is in the beginning stages of the investigation. 

MORE THAN 20 DAYS INTO PHENOMENON, PENTAGON STILL HAS NO ANSWERS ABOUT ORIGINS OF MYSTERIOUS NJ DRONES

Blumenthal said his office is asking for a briefing on the drones, describing it as "absolutely necessary" for Congress and the American people as many appear to be concerned and afraid.

"I'm hearing from constituents in the metropolitan area around New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, who are really terrified by these drones flying unidentified over airports and military bases," he said.

The senator added that the drones are causing a "level of fear, even terror" because people are worried about surveillance and airplanes flying in the same airspace.

He also encouraged Americans wanting to use drones to buy ones manufactured in the USA and not China, warning that they could be "sources of surveillance data for other kinds of security threats."

"Chinese manufactured drones are real and present [a] threat to the security of this country," Blumenthal said. "We have to stop using them."

More than three weeks after dozens of mysterious drones began popping up in the New Jersey night sky, the public has still been offered no clear insight on what the phenomenon could be. 

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., suggested the swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles could be from an Iranian "mother ship." 

The Pentagon shot down his idea. 

"There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so-called mother ship launching drones towards the United States," said Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh. She added there is "no evidence" to suggest the drones are "the work of a foreign adversary." 

"We aren’t being told the truth," Van Drew responded Thursday on Fox News. "They are dealing with the American public like we’re stupid."

While the Pentagon maintains that the drones are not foreign, the FBI has admitted it is "concerned" about how little the agency knows about them.

Asked if Americans are "at risk," Robert Wheeler, FBI assistant director of the Critical Incident Response Group, told Congress: "There is nothing that is known that would lead me to say that, but we just don't know. And that's the concerning part."

In recent weeks, the drones have flown near sensitive sites, like a military research facility.

And if the drones aren’t foreign in origin, onlookers are left wondering why it’s taking U.S. agencies so long to figure out who is behind them. 

"What I can say is a lot of our detection systems, means of tracking and understanding, are so vastly undersized and radically out of date," Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told Fox News Digital. 

"So it would not surprise me that we could still be out of sync with this and not understand at the level we should," he added. "After the Cold War, the notion of air defense really took a back burner." 

And Birkey remains unconvinced that the drones are not foreign in origin. 

"I don't think we can speak declaratively about the source, but obviously they seem of a certain sophistication, size and set of behaviors that would suggest high potential of being from an adversary source," he said. 

​​NEW JERSEY DRONE SIGHTINGS: MILITARY ANALYSTS BREAK DOWN NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS, DOUBT HOBBYISTS AT PLAY

"I think they are either using them for intel, imagery, etc., but they can also just be testing us to see what our responses are, to then help inform their strategies and their concepts of operation." 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has insisted the drones do not pose a threat to public safety. The FBI is assisting local law enforcement in investigating and has called on the public for assistance through its tip line. 

It’s far from the first time unidentified drones have been seen flying near U.S. military installations. Last year, drones hovered near Langley Air Force Base for over two weeks, and their origin has still not been revealed. Before that, a Chinese spy balloon traversed the U.S., traipsing near military installations, for a week before being shot down off the East Coast. 

"There are seemingly few hard consequences [for the drones], and that is causing a very dangerous risk of escalation." 

None of the New Jersey drones have been shot down or had their systems jammed by U.S. officials. The drones that hovered near Langley were not intercepted either. 

"Whoever is flying these drones does not necessarily care about their relationship with Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, because clearly they’re breaking almost every rule the FAA has in place for safe drone flying," said Pramod Abichandani, associate professor at NJIT’s School of Applied Engineering and a drone expert. 

"These drones are flying at night, over populated areas, flying around in a group, whether they’re being programmed as a swarm of drones or not," he said. "All of those things are not permitted freely by the FAA."

In military settings, officers use "swarms" of drones to attack enemies to make it harder for them to shoot the drones down. 

The drones are "six feet in diameter," fly in a coordinated way with their lights off and "appear to avoid detection by traditional methods," according to New Jersey state Rep. Dawn Fantasia, who relayed a briefing given by law enforcement. 

MYSTERIOUS DRONE SIGHTINGS CONTINUE TO BE REPORTED IN NEW JERSEY WITHOUT ANSWERS

The drones were first spotted on Nov. 18, and have been spotted every night since, flying from dusk to about 11 p.m. Reports have ranged from four to 180 sightings per night. 

"We know nothing. Period. To state that there is no known or credible threat is incredibly misleading, and I informed all officials of that sentiment," she said. 

"At this point, I believe military intervention is the only path forward. There will be no answers in the absence of proactivity."

U.S. Northern Command, the military command center in charge of defending the U.S. homeland, said it had not yet been asked to step in and help. 

"We are aware and monitoring the reports of unauthorized drone flights in the vicinity of military installations in New Jersey, to include Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle, and we refer you to those installations for information on any efforts they may be conducting to ensure the safety and security of their personnel and operations," a U.S. Nothern Command spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News he is getting a "classified briefing" Thursday in Washington on the mysterious drones that are being spotted flying across New Jersey. 

The Louisiana Republican, speaking to Fox News Senior Congressional Correspondent Chad Pergram, called the situation a "quandary." 

"I'm going to try to go get a classified briefing to see what we know, but the hearings have not yielded much yet," Johnson said. 

"It's a specific briefing today on that subject?" Pergram then asked. 

NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR SAYS FEDS HAVE AUTHORITY TO SHOOT DOWN DRONES, ‘WOULDN’T BE OPPOSED’ TO THEM PLAYING ‘MORE ROBUST ROLE’ 

 So I'm anxious to find out," Johnson responded. 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy recently told WNYC that his state government is running down every theory of what the source of the drones could be.  

"I'm relying overwhelmingly on the experts in the federal government who do this for a living. There's no evidence that anything is armed," he said. "There's some theories out there. Again, we take nothing off the table. Even if somebody says something crazy with absolutely no evidence. We've been running everything down."  

NJ LAWMAKER CALLS ON DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE TO ‘IMMEDIATELY’ INVESTIGATE MYSTERY DRONE SIGHTINGS 

A New Jersey state senator is also calling on the Department of Defense to investigate the recent mysterious nighttime drone sightings amid rising public frustration over a lack of answers. 

"Let me be clear: The state police, this is way beyond their expertise … We know the Department of Defense has the technology to monitor these drones," State Sen. Jon Bramnick, R-N.J., told co-anchor John Roberts Wednesday on "America Reports." 

"The problem is we don't have the Department of Defense in New Jersey at this time. And that's what I call for. Until the Department of Defense comes in, shuts down airspace completely to drones, do a limited state of emergency – no drones in the sky until we figure out what's going on here," Bramnick warned. "But without the Department of Defense, we will have no information because the technology is way beyond state officials." 

Fox News’ Joshua Comins contributed to this report. 

A U.S. Coast Guard official said one of its vessels was trailed by dozens of drones off the coast of New Jersey recently, according to Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.

Smith, a guest on "The Story with Martha MacCallum" Tuesday, said he spent Monday night on the beach in Ocean County and spoke to several people, including a U.S. Coast Guard commanding officer stationed in Barnegat Light.

Smith learned from the Coast Guard commander that the night before, "one of their 47-foot vessels, boats, was trailed very closely by more than a dozen of these drones."

"Now, that to me, is very, very, not just suspicious, provocative, and this could be a foreign power, whether it be [Vladimir] Putin, or it could be Xi Jinping in China, or the Middle East, we can’t rule any of that out," the congressman said.

NEW JERSEY DRONES: NORTHCOM NOT YET ASKED BY LOCAL OFFICIALS FOR HELP

The Coast Guard did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for confirmation on Smith’s account or comment.

Reports of large drones flying over different parts of the Garden State, including President-elect Trump’s Bedminster golf course and near military research sites, have been on the rise in recent weeks.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., said Wednesday that "very qualified" and "reliable" sources believe the mystery drones flying over New Jersey are originating from an Iranian "mother ship" parked off the U.S. East Coast.

FBI LEADER SAYS IT'S ‘CONCERNING’ HOW LITTLE HIS AGENCY KNOWS ABOUT MYSTERIOUS DRONES SEEN OVER NEW JERSEY

"Here is the real deal," Van Drew told Fox News’ Harris Faulkner. "I'm on the Transportation Committee, on the Aviation Subcommittee, and I've gotten to know people. And from very high sources, very qualified sources, very responsible sources. I'm going to tell you… Iran launched a mother ship probably about a month ago that contains these drones. That mothership is off the East Coast of the United States of America."

Van Drew did not provide the names of the sources who provided the information, citing confidentiality.

The lawmaker later said Iran made a deal with China to purchase drones, mother ships and technology.

NEW JERSEY DRONE SIGHTINGS: MILITARY ANALYSTS BREAK DOWN NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS, DOUBT HOBBYISTS AT PLAY

"…These drones should be shot down," Van Drew said. "Whether it was some crazy hobbyist that we can't imagine, or whether it is Iran – and I think it very possibly could be – they should be shot down. We are not getting the full deal, and the military is on alert with this."

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin during a press briefing on Wednesday that there is no evidence that the mysterious drones spotted over New Jersey residential neighborhoods and military bases come from a foreign adversary.

Singh also said the drones pose no threat to U.S. military installations.

When asked about Van Drew’s comments, Singh said there is "not any truth" to his claims.

Fox News’ Liz Friden and Taylor Penley contributed to this report.

A New Jersey state senator called for a limited state of emergency Tuesday as the mystery surrounding large drones flying over the Garden State continues to deepen.

"The State of New Jersey should issue a limited state of emergency banning all drones until the public receives an explanation regarding these multiple sightings," Republican New Jersey state Sen. Jon Bramnick said in a press release.

Reports of large drones flying over President-elect Trump’s Bedminster golf course and near military research sites in New Jersey have been on the rise in recent weeks. On Monday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced there were dozens of reports of drones on Sunday alone.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that drones flying over New Jersey were not foreign, adding that President Biden has been made aware of the situation, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and FBI are investigating.

FBI LEADER SAYS IT'S ‘CONCERNING’ HOW LITTLE HIS AGENCY KNOWS ABOUT MYSTERIOUS DRONES SEEN OVER NEW JERSEY

"So, we are certainly aware. The president is aware, so we are closely tracking the activity and coordinating closely with relevant agencies, including DHS and FBI, to continue to investigate these incidents," Jean-Pierre said before adding she did not have anything else to share. "Obviously, this is something the DHS and FBI are tracking very, very closely."

When pressed if the federal government had ruled out that the drones are being controlled by foreign entities, Jean-Pierre promptly responded, "Yeah."

The Federal Aviation Administration first received reports of drone activity Nov. 18 in Morris County, which is nearly 2 miles north of Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in Somerset County.

NEW JERSEY DRONE SIGHTINGS: MILITARY ANALYSTS BREAK DOWN NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS, DOUBT HOBBYISTS AT PLAY

Since then, sightings have occurred a few miles north of Bedminster in Mendham and Parsippany and other places across the Garden State.

On Monday, Murphy said there were 49 reports of drones Sunday, mostly in Hunterdon County. The Democratic governor said his numbers also included possible sightings and potentially the same drone being reported more than once.

Federal lawmakers from the state have expressed a degree of concern about the drones, regardless of the side of the aisle they stand on.

DRONE ACTIVITY NEAR TRUMP BEDMINSTER, ARMY ARSENAL SPURS NJ FLIGHT RESTRICTION: FAA

"My office has been in communication with Governor Murphy’s office and our federal agency partners," Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said in a post on X. "While the drones currently pose no known threat to the public, my team and I will continue to monitor the situation closely."

Booker also penned a letter to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, FBI Director Christopher Wray and Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Tuesday, seeking better transparency and a comprehensive briefing on drone activity over New Jersey.

"Over the past several weeks, there have been multiple confirmed sightings of unexplained drone activity over New Jersey communities and military installations," Booker wrote. "I recognize the need to maintain operational security of ongoing investigations and that this situation requires complex Interagency coordination. 

"However, there is a growing sense of uncertainty and urgency across the state — from constituents and local officials alike — despite assurances that the drones pose no known threats to public safety. As such, I urge you to share any relevant information about these drone sightings with the public. Without transparency, I believe that rumors, fear, and misinformation will continue to spread."

NEW JERSEY GOV PHIL MURPHY CALLS FOR FEDERAL HELP AMID ‘VERY SOPHISTICATED’ DRONE SIGHTINGS: ‘WE NEED MORE’

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., said in a statement to Fox News Digital that the recent drone sightings in New Jersey are "not only scary for residents." They point to the need for change in the state and in the U.S.

"There has been no transparency with the public, and this lack of communication is unacceptable," Van Drew said. "Constituents have been told the drones are not a threat, but no further information has been provided. People need, want and deserve answers now so they can stop worrying about their safety and privacy."

As concerns continue to mount, Robert Wheeler, the FBI's assistant director of the Critical IIncident Response Group, told Congress the federal agency knows concerningly little about the mysterious drones that have been spotted hovering over New Jersey.

When asked if Americans are at risk, Wheeler said, "There is nothing that is known that would lead me to say that, but we just don't know. And that's the concerning part."

While the FBI has been investigating the incidents, the agency has called on the public for additional information.

The FAA confirmed earlier this month that it had issued two flight restrictions in response to the questionable drone activity reported near Trump’s Bedminster golf club.

Upon request from "federal security partners," the agency issued two temporary flight restrictions.

One restriction covers an area near Solberg-Hunterdon County Airport that consists of airspace above Trump Bedminster. Flights are also banned over Picatinny Arsenal, a major U.S. Army hub in Dover, N.J., geared toward research and development via its CCDCAC armaments center.

The ban remained in place over Trump Bedminster through last week, snd the ban over Picatinny Arsenal will remain in place until Dec. 26.

Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.