{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413451", "Asbury Park Press 'Rep. Smith: 50 drones came in from ocean; At least a dozen trailed Coast Guard ship'", "2024-12-10", "2024", "2024-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Jenna Caldero\u0301n and Lisa Robyn Kruse\n\n- Asbury Park Press\n\nMore than a dozen drones followed a 47-foot Coast Guard boat Sunday night, while law enforcement tracked another 50 drones coming onto land from the ocean at Island State Park, Rep. Chris Smith said.\n\nMeanwhile, an FBI assistant director admitted that the agency doesn\u2019t know who is behind the unidentified drones that are flying over New Jersey.\n\nAuthorities did confirm that the drones are not coming from local military bases.\n\nThe mystery of the unidentified drones deepened Tuesday, as federal officials admitted during a congressional hearing that despite repeated assurances from Gov. Murphy and other public officials, they can\u2019t say definitively whether the drones pose a threat.\n\nMORE: Ocean County sheriff on hunt for mystery drones; Monmouth releases drone map\n\nNJ drones: Here are the post-9/11 rules on how government fights airspace intruders\n\n\u201cThere is nothing known that would lead me to say that but we just don\u2019t know and that\u2019s the concerning part,\u201d Robert Wheeler, assistant FBI director, said during the congressional hearing.\n\nRep. Christopher Smith said during the hearing, and in an interview on Fox News, that he went drone-hunting at Island Beach State Park on Monday with Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy. He said they went to that beach because the night before, a law enforcement officer had counted 50 drones coming in from the ocean onto land.\n\nIn addition, he said that he was told by a Coast Guard official that one of their 47-foot ships in the ocean was trailed by 12 to 30 drones.\n\n\u201cI think this is a very serious threat,\u201d Smith said.\n\nHe added that when he asked officials at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst why they couldn\u2019t shoot down the drones, he was told they don\u2019t have the authority to do so. Smith urged officials at the hearing to grant military authorization to shoot down the drones so that their identity and capability could be ascertained.\n\nDuring the congressional hearing, Wheeler said that the FBI doesn\u2019t know the people responsible for the drones that have blanketed New Jersey in recent weeks.\n\nWheeler said that based on verified eyewitness reports, some of the drones are larger than commercial drones, and are both rotary and fixed-wing craft.\n\nDrones are not military\n\nPicatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle said they are not responsible for the recent scattering of devices in the sky, continuing confusion surrounding the mysterious objects.\n\nJoint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst did not immediately respond for comment.\n\nSince receiving initial reports of the sightings a few weeks ago, Picatinny Arsenal officials immediately began investigating and increased outreach and coordination with several local, state and federal partner organizations to obtain more information, Lt. Col. Craig A. Bonham II, Picatinny Arsenal Garrison Commander, said.\n\n\"While the source and cause of these aircraft operating in our area remain unknown, we can confirm that they are not the result of any Picatinny Arsenal-related activities,\u201d Bonham said.\n\nMORE: Mystery drones sighted in Monmouth, Ocean counties: Cops\n\nNew Jersey has witnessed a startling number of drones since mid-to-late November. The unidentified drone sightings have also been reported in Bergen, Esssex, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Somerset, and Warren counties. Some eyewitnesses have reported seeing \u201ccar-sized\u201d objects that appear to rise in the sky as the sun sets. They have been hovering over reservoirs, military installations and critical infrastructure.\n\nIn a joint statement on Dec. 3, the FBI, State Police and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness said authorities were asking the public to report any information related to the recent sightings of possible drones flying in several areas along the Raritan River\n\nAccording to the Federal Aviation Administration, there are security restrictions over Bedminster from December 6 to 20, as well as over Picatinny Arsenal since November 25.\n\nThis article was originally published in the Asbury Park Press on Dec. 10, 2024 and can be found online at:\n\nhttps://www.app.com/story/news/local/2024/12/10/50-nj-drones-came-in-from-ocean-12-trailed-coast-guard-ship-congressman-fbi-admits-dont-know-origin/76893631007/", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T22:13:55Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413451"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.9852689690887928, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}