A drone or SUAV, Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.
Richard Newstead | Moment | Getty Images
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday that ongoing investigations around reported drone sightings over New Jersey have found “many of the reported drone sightings are, in fact, manned aircraft being misidentified as drones.”
The investigations have also found no evidence that spotted drones have engaged in illegal activity or malicious acts, and that the United States Coast Guard has not found any evidence of foreign involvement offshore.
“At this point, we have not identified any basis for believing that there’s any criminal activity involved, that there’s any national security threat, that there’s any particular public safety threat or that there’s a malicious foreign actor involved in these drones,” a DHS official said.
The FBI has been investigating hundreds of reports of drones operating at night since mid-November, most of which are larger than the ones that hobbyists use.
Officials from the FBI said on Thursday that they had seen “no evidence” that the drone sightings “pose a national security or public safety threat.”
Sightings have occurred over the Bedminster, New Jersey, golf course owned by President-elect Donald Trump, as well as near a military research facility.