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Drones Follow U.S. Coast Guard Boat Off New Jersey

Drone in dark
File image (iStock / George Almanza)

Published Dec 11, 2024 3:36 PM by The Maritime Executive

Police in Asbury Park, New Jersey have reported a huge cluster of drones arriving from offshore, including more than a dozen that appear to have tracked a Coast Guard motor lifeboat.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) reported Tuesday that about 50 drones arrived from seaward over Asbury Park on Sunday night. As many as 30 additional drones followed a 47-foot USCG fast response boat as it operated just off the coast, he said. 

Gov. Phil Murphy has assured the public that the drones pose no threat, but in questioning before a congressional panel on Tuesday, a top FBI official said that law enforcement has no knowledge of who the operator of the drone swarm might be. "We just don't know, and that's the concerning part," assistant FBI director Robert Wheeler told the panel. 

Large-scale drone sightings have been reported all over New Jersey in recent weeks, including some at sensitive military sites and near critical infrastructure. Bystanders have reported flying unmanned craft of unusually large size, exceeding the scale of normal commercial UAVs. 

The drones do not come from any nearby military base, officials at Naval Weapons Station Earle and the Picatinny Arsenal have confirmed. The Pentagon has not announced plans to shoot down any of the flying objects, and is presently watching and waiting. 

"At this time we have no evidence that these drones are coming from a foreign entity or the work of an adversary. We will continue to monitor what is happening, but at no point were our installations threatening," said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.  

U.S. Northern Command - responsible for air defense for the U.S. mainland - also indicated that it has no plans to intervene. "USNORTHCOM conducted a deliberate analysis of the events, in consultation with other military organizations and interagency partners . . . at this time we have not been requested to assist with these events," the command said. 

Open-source intelligence analysts have noted that some of the largest reported "drones" display marking lights that are identical to those on known aircraft, like the F-35B and the AgustaWestland AW-139 helicopter - both capable of hovering in midflight and maneuvering like a quadcopter. 

In an interview on Fox, Congressman Jeff Van Drew claimed to have knowledge that the drones were Iranian, and that they came from a "mothership" located off the East Coast. Iran does possess an array of drone systems, and it has created two dedicated drone motherships - but both of these vessels are visible on satellite imaging in the anchorage at Bandar Abbas, 6,000 nautical miles east of Asbury Park (and much further by navigable routes).