(NewsNation) — Americans’ fascination and frustration levels with mysterious drone sightings continue to grow although the number of reports involving unidentified objects has dipped in the past few days.
Federal agencies like the FBI have not provided definitive answers about where the drones are coming from. The agencies continue to maintain that the drones are not the property of the U.S. military and that there is no reason for concern about the objects being operated by foreign governments.
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily banned drones in certain parts of New York and New Jersey, where Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy maintains that anti-drone technology that was sent to the state isn’t working.
“I think momentum and frustration is growing on this issue,” Brad Crispin, the co-founder of Americans for Safe Aerospace, told NewsNation.
Crispin said out of the thousands of reported drone sightings, some have been misidentified. But he said that the main story surrounding the issue is the vulnerabilities that now exist in American airspace and the nation’s critical infrastructure.
He said that a percentage of what people are seeing in the sky is “truly concerning.”
Crispin said that sightings at Picatinny Arsenal and Trump National Golf Course in New Jersey likely sparked the national fascination with drones. But the sightings are instead a “years-running pattern” with mysterious overflights in sensitive areas by unidentified objects.
“Pilots are concerned, members of the Senate Intelligence and Armed Services Committee are concerned, and they’ve been raising the warning for years,” Crispin said.
Crispin said the biggest concern is that federal agencies don’t know where the drones are coming from. Given the temporary bans in two states that will last until mid-January and anxiety over the misidentification of drones, Crispin said it has become evident that federal officials don’t have the drone issue under control.
“I think only a fraction of these (sightings) are concerning,” Crispin told NewsNation. “But people want answers. Let’s identify what’s in our skies, There shouldn’t be unknown objects operating over military bases, operating over critical infrastructure. There’s no reason for it.”
