Call it “Operation Drone Home.”
New Jersey authorities have been searching for clues about a mysterious drone spotted over the Garden State for nearly a month. The Post then took a peek inside its new waterfront headquarters.
The Ocean County Sheriff's Office's Drone Command Center is located at Vision Beach in Seaside Heights and features three giant television screens that allow deputies to track airplane traffic overhead, Ocean County said. Sheriff Michael Mastronardi said.
“No one has actually seen it. [the drones] It’s takeoff or landing,” Mastronardi said.
“Think about that. Why didn't anyone see takeoff or landing?”
At the command center, “When a complaint is received” [about a drone]you can see [to see] It’s whether there are planes in the sky,” he told the Post.
However, lawmakers are not yet able to use the technology to monitor drones, only aircraft.
But it will help investigators “debunk” possible drone sightings, the sheriff explained.
The drone command center has been operational for more than a week.
“It provides shelter,” Mastronardi said.
“The sheriffs can sit here and eat. There are cameras watching the shore.”
They have not yet captured any video of the mysterious drone.
Here's what we know about the mysterious drone flying over the East Coast.
“On Sunday night, I think it was just before 8 p.m., a police officer reported seeing 50 drones coming out of the ocean,” Mastronardi said.
“She took some images, so we've got some special cameras now to take pictures of these items.”
Do you have footage of drones flying over New Jersey or New York? Send it to The Post at drones@nypost.com.
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) held a press conference Saturday at Seaside Heights Beach and said he was drafting a new bill that would give police departments the power to shoot down drones.
“Think of it as trespassing into the sky,” Smith said.
Authorities urged residents not to fire at drones after footage leaked on social media overnight showing people firing tracer rounds at one of the planes.
There were no drone sightings during the day, the official added.
