Multiple New Jersey lawmakers are calling on the state to take immediate action to address mysterious unidentified flying objects residents have observed flying in the skies for weeks.
Republican state Sen. Jon Bramnick, Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. (R-NJ), and half a dozen mayors are among the officials calling on Gov. Phil Murphy (D-NJ) to do more to address constituents’ rising concerns about the bewildering aerial sightings. Hundreds of the unmanned flying objects have been spotted nightly in eight New Jersey counties, resemble small car-sized “drones,” and have been reported scoping the skies since Nov. 18 for hours at a time.
Bramnick is the state’s former Republican Assembly leader who launched a campaign to become New Jersey’s next governor in January. He called on the state to issue a “limited state of emergency banning all drones” until the public receives an explanation regarding the sightings in a statement Tuesday.
“We do state of emergencies for snowstorms, so I think we can do a state of emergency of people worried about drones flying over military bases, right?” Bramnick said during a phone interview with the Washington Examiner.
Bramnick is concerned that many of the confirmed sightings have been in Morris County, where Picatinny Arsenal lies. The major U.S. military research facility is a critical manufacturer of munitions.
Each mayor representing the six municipalities of the Somerset Hills across Somerset County also sent a “joint request to the Governor’s office requesting immediate action on this issue of great concern to us and our residents” Monday evening.
Meanwhile, Kean called on the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration, and “other appropriate federal agencies” to devote more resources to “investigate and address this escalating issue.”
He also demanded an immediate “in-depth public briefing from authorities” surrounding the matter in a statement Sunday.
Besides flying over the Picatinny military base and near President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf club, the mysterious objects have been spotted flying “over reservoirs, rail stations, and container terminals — all in crowded airspace with three major commercial airports,” according to a local NBC report.
The Federal Aviation Administration has temporarily banned drones from flying overhead the Morris County military base and Trump’s golf resort.
Bramnick thinks authorities haven’t shot the “drones” down because “the federal government must believe they’re not a threat.”
“Because if they, if the federal government thought they were a threat, I assume they shoot them down. And if they are a threat and they’re not shooting down, then we’re in big trouble,” he said.
Murphy’s office did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
The governor said last week he met with senior DHS officials and top state authorities to discuss the phenomenon, which is under the FBI’s investigation.
Meanwhile, one of the unmanned aircraft allegedly recently crashed and burst into flames, according to Newsweek.
Locals in Morris County who experimented with following the terrestrial objects also noted their car clocks changed times as the “drones” hovered over their vehicles.
“The clock in their car changed time,” a Fox News anchor reported. ”They say the clock went back to normal after they drove off.”
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Bramnick, the state senator, is hopeful that the federal government will give the public more information.
“It is enough that the citizens in New Jersey are concerned,” he said Tuesday afternoon.