A mysterious drone that has been plaguing New Jersey residents for weeks may be part of a secret government program, security experts say as lawmakers seek answers to the troubling sighting. he told The Post on Tuesday.
Since the device was first discovered on Nov. 18, federal authorities have remained silent about daily drone activity in Morris, Passaic, Bergen, Hunterdon and other counties.
But several experts say the U.S. government may be behind the erratic flight, a top-secret military program aimed at testing new hardware before it is sent to the battlefield. It is said that it may be part of this.
“My first guess is that these are potentially government programs kept in what are known as 'Special Access Programs,' and that this program is intentionally designed to keep even the most cleared people out. It's kept together, and that's just to keep it a secret,” Clint Emerson said. Retired Navy SEALs and Owner of security company Escape the Wolf.
“So the government says, 'We don't know.' They're telling the truth,” he said, adding that the circle could be as small as 12 officials. “They don't even know the program exists.”
Emerson said it's impossible to know what a drone is doing, but he suspects the secret lies not in the device itself, but in the technology it carries.
“That could be different types of collection capabilities: different types of cameras: high-definition, infrared, thermal, etc.,” he said.
For example, the second payload could be hardware that captures all cellular data in a particular environment.
“How much data can we collect with this? Let's say we have 10 drones flying in a grid. How much cell phone traffic can we pick up? That's not real conversation. Just millions of cell phone signatures. What can 10 drones fly over an area and pick up?”
“That's a legitimate test,” he said. “They're not violating your privacy. It's legitimate data. And that's a hell of a power.”
And what better place to do that than in New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the country?
“That's my best guess. This is a very tight-knit program and they're doing what they need to do to make sure the technology actually works.” Emerson said.
What's the weirdest part?
If that were true, the people running it wouldn't have to say anything.
“Beauty [special access program] They’re kind of in their own lawless little world,” Emerson said. “They can do whatever they want and don't have to tell anyone.”
Kelly McCann, a national security expert and former Marine Special Operations Officer who worked at the Office of Naval Research, echoed Emerson's comments and said he believed the government was testing some kind of “operational capability.” said.
“I wonder how we can control the sky. But this is happening and no one says, 'No?' McCann Frequent contributor to Fox Newshe told the Post.
“I don't buy it. Technology exists to remove one or all of those things, but still isn't it? Bull.”
That's probably not much comfort to New Jersey politicians who are dealing with a flood of complaints about low-flying devices.
Republican Rep. Chris Smith, who represents a large swath of south Jersey, said Monday that the state's residents “deserve swift and bold action” by the government to investigate and address the situation.
“New Jersey residents are understandably alarmed by this serious and recurring phenomenon, and the tepid response from state and federal agencies to date is completely unacceptable,” Smith said in a statement.
“As we saw with China's spy balloons last year, our most powerful adversaries will stop at nothing to surveil our homeland and threaten our national security.”
Meanwhile, Republican Sen. John Bramnick of the state's 21st Congressional District said Tuesday that New Jersey is “imposing a limited state of emergency banning all drones until the public is informed about these multiple sightings.” “Should.” According to a statement posted on the Senate Republican Party's website.
On Monday, the governor told FOX News “I don't blame people for being frustrated,” he said, but reiterated there appeared to be no threat.
“We see no evidence. This includes the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Secret Service, state police, authorities at all levels of government, but most importantly, we see no public safety concerns. That's it,” Murphy said. .
“That being said, it's really frustrating that we don't get more answers as to where they're coming from and why they're behaving this way,” he continued, saying Sunday night. It added that there were 49 reported sightings of drones.
Murphy added that he was speaking with White House and Homeland Security officials on Sunday and was “hoping to get answers sooner rather than later.”
“It appears to be…very sophisticated,” he said of the aircraft. “The moment we set our eyes on them, they go black. It's clear that what we're most concerned about are sensitive targets and critical infrastructure.”
Federal authorities who say they are investigating the sightings appear similarly concerned, and the Federal Aviation Administration has restricted drone flights over the Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County and the Trump National Golf Club in Somerset. .
But no local or federal law enforcement agency has revealed a motive for the nighttime flight, despite witness videos flooding the internet.
“Unfortunately, we don't have many answers. We don't want to speculate or hypothesize what's going on,” said FBI spokeswoman Amy J. Thoreson. he told NJ.com last week.
“We're doing everything we can to figure it out.”
