{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413456", "NJ.com news article:'More than a dozen drones spotted off Jersey Shore following Coast Guard boat, lawmaker says'", "2024-12-11", "2024", "2024-12", "Republican", "House", "NJ", "Christopher H. Smith", "S000522", "chrissmith.house.gov", "chrissmith", "https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "OCEAN COUNTY, NJ , Dec 11, 2024\n\nNJ. com Everything New Jersey - Powered by Star Ledger\n\nBy Tina Kelley | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com -\n\nPublished: Dec. 11, 2024, 12:59 p.m.\n\nBetween 12 and 30 drones were spotted following a Coast Guard lifeboat off the Jersey Shore Sunday night, a Republican lawmaker said during a Congressional hearing Tuesday on mysterious drone sightings over the last month.\n\nA Coast Guard commander in Barnegat Light said during a briefing earlier this week that the drones were spotted following the 47-foot vessel, according to U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., who spoke during a joint U.S. House of Representatives committee on possible security threats posed by drones.\n\nSmith also said an Ocean County Sheriff\u2019s officer saw 50 drones moving over land from the ocean at Island Beach State Park over the weekend.\n\n\u201cMaybe it\u2019s China,\u201d Smith told the committee. \u201cXi Jinping is a monster. Look at what Putin is doing. They\u2019re all capable of doing horrible things to our people.\u201d\n\nThe Coast Guard did not immediately respond to requests for additional information. The FBI also did not immediately respond to a request to comment.\n\nThe FBI is continuing to investigate thousands of nighttime drone sightings reported in New Jersey in recent weeks, though it is unclear how many of the reports were really unexplained drones and not airplanes or other objects in the night sky. The agency has asked for the public\u2019s help in collecting video and photo evidence of sightings.\n\nGov. Phil Murphy and some local law enforcement officials have said the drones pose no known threat to the public. Other county and local officials have said the sightings, including some over the state\u2019s largest reservoir, are \u201cconcerning.\u201d\n\nOcean County Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy told NJ Advance Media Wednesday he is \u201cconcerned\u201d about the drone sightings. Asked if he considered them a public safety issue he said, \u201cof course.\u201d\n\n\u201cI\u2019d like to identify who the people are, or have somebody identify them,\u201d he said. \u201cIronically, no one has seen them land or take off yet.\u201d\n\nDuring the hearing, Smith asked for the military to use its authority to intercept a drone to investigate its origins.\n\n\u201cJust send that capability out to the ocean or to the beach, because they\u2019re coming in every day. Figure out which one it is and bring it down and retrieve it and find out what is going on,\u201d Smith said.\n\nIn a Tuesday letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, Smith referred to \u201cnumerous instances of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) flying over New Jersey, including in close proximity to sensitive sites and critical infrastructure, to include military installations.\u201d\n\nSmith said Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey is able \u201cto identify and take down unauthorized unmanned aerial systems and have utilized this capability to address overflights of the installation.\u201d\n\nThe U.S. Secretary of Defense had not replied to Smith\u2019s letter as of Wednesday, a spokesman for the congressman said.\n\nOfficials at the Department of Defense and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst did not immediately respond to requests to comment.\n\nPresident Joe Biden has been briefed on the drone reports, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters on Tuesday.\n\n\u201cWe are closely tracking the activity and coordinating closely with relevant agencies,\u201d she said, referring to the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.\n\nWhen asked about frustrations expressed by New Jersey officials and the public about the lack of answers about the sightings Jean-Pierre said: \u201cObviously we hear them, and we understand that we are closely tracking this.\u201d\n\nStories by Tina Kelley\n\nFBI, Homeland Security cast doubt on N.J. drone reports, echoing White House statements\n\nWhat are the mystery drones hovering above N.J.? Here\u2019s what 3 experts say.\n\nBan drone flights and declare state of emergency, N.J. lawmaker says\n\nThis article was published on Dec. 11, 20124 and can be found at:\n\nMore than a dozen drones spotted off Jersey Shore following Coast Guard boat, lawmaker says - nj.com\n\nhttps://www.nj.com/ocean/2024/12/more-than-a-dozen-drones-spotted-off-jersey-shore-following-coast-guard-boat-lawmaker-says.html", 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=413456"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.1622863821685314, "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"}