It was revealed Thursday that a mysterious drone in New Jersey that the FBI is investigating recently prevented medical helicopters from transporting critically ill patients to hospitals.
A medical helicopter was flying to a crash in Branchburg Township, Somerset County last Tuesday, but was unable to pick up crash victims because a drone was hovering in the landing zone. . officials told NJ.com..
Two security guards from Raritan Valley Community College blocked off the road to secure the crash site in preparation for a helicopter to land, Brian Sarge, the public college's security supervisor, told the program.
However, he said the request was canceled by the local fire chief just before 7 p.m., citing the dangerous presence of drones.
“We didn't know what the actual drone was,” Serge said. “It's kind of a mystery. We asked people about it, but no one knew anything.”
This comes after a spate of drone sightings over the past two weeks in central New Jersey, not far from President-elect Donald Trump's Bedminster golf course.
Drones have recently been seen hovering in groups near the Raritan River for hours each night. A Parsippany woman claimed to have seen up to five mysterious aircraft buzzing overhead Sunday night.
The Federal Aviation Administration received multiple reports of unusual aircraft activity over Trump National Golf Club Bedminster and the U.S. Army Picatinny Arsenal near Dover, New Jersey, and over Morris and Somerset counties. Two temporary flight restrictions were issued.
The FAA said it received the report on Nov. 18. The FBI requested the restrictions “out of an abundance of caution,” an agency spokeswoman said.
This restriction will continue until December 26th.
The FBI also asked witnesses to send high-resolution photos of the “problem flight” to the office for further investigation.
It's unclear whether the Branchburg patient was taken to the hospital by ambulance or by helicopter, which landed elsewhere, NJ.com said.
