Unidentified drone swarms are haunting the coastline, and NJ lawmakers are demanding answers.

Dark skies over New Jersey have become a stage for a puzzling phenomenon — swarms of unidentified drones moving with eerie precision. Law enforcement is baffled, residents are uneasy, and officials are demanding answers.

Are these a harmless anomaly, or do they signal a deeper, more sinister agenda lurking in the shadows?

“Drones spark ‘state of emergency’ in New Jersey,” reported Stacy Liberatore for Daily Mail earlier today.

“The mysterious swarms of drones in New Jersey have sparked calls for a ‘state of emergency’ until answers are given about the thousands of bizarre sightings,” Liberatore revealed. “Concern about unexplained UFOs began in mid-November when ‘car-sized’ drones appeared over the US Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in Rockaway and President-elect Donald Trump´s golf course in Bedminster.”

New Jersey elected officials have been clamoring en masse for answers from U.S. military, national security, and federal law enforcement officials.

Assistant FBI director Robert Wheeler answered questions about the incidents during a Homeland Security hearing on Tuesday.

“What is going on in New Jersey?” Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX) asked Assistant Director Wheeler.

“The FBI in the Newark field office, along with state and local partners are actively investigating the situation you mentioned — the unexplained sighting of drone activity over that part of New Jersey, including proximity to sensitive sites and areas of concern,” Mr. Wheeler answered. “We do not yet attribute that to an individual or a group. We’re investigating, but I don’t have an answer as to who is responsible for that — whether one or more people are responsible for those drone flights.”

“We’re actively investigating,” reiterated Mr. Wheeler. “What the Bureau has done to aid our state and local partners is what we generally do: enlist the help of the interagency, enlist the help of the public. There’s a tip line, 1–800-CALL-FBI, and tips.fbi.gov for information from the public that could help us resolve this. It is concerning.”

“Is the public at risk?” Rep. Pfluger followed up. “Is public safety at risk? Are we concerned that there are nefarious intentions that could cause either a national security or public safety incident that would put Americans at risk?”

“We go back to last year,” an exasperated Pfluger rejoined. “There were incidents, including Langley Air Force Base, where for over a week, we had unknown drones flying over a very sensitive military installation with F-22s and other weapon systems on the ground. I think that was cause for concern.”

“So, from a DHS standpoint, either on a border mission or from an FBI or DOJ perspective, you mentioned, Mr. Wheeler, that we don’t necessarily have the authorities we need. Why can’t we take action against these drones that are flying over sensitive sites?” he asked. “Why are we not taking action against drones that are flying over sensitive sites?”

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) raised similar concerns during the hearing. He called on the DoD to bring down one of the drones to glean more information.

“Last night, I was on the beach at Island State Park in Ocean County with the sheriff,” began Rep. Smith. “He’s been working it every single night. He has his own tethered drones chronicling. One of his officers, two nights ago, saw 50 drones come in off the ocean right there. We thought maybe they’d replicate it. They didn’t, but we thought it was a possibility.”

“Then last night, we had a number of other people there, including a commanding officer from the Coast Guard, who said that one of their 47-foot motor lifeboats was followed by between 12 and 30 of these drones as they went through the water — followed right behind them,” he added.

“I know you have the capability — you’ve put out press releases — to identify and bring down drones,” related the Congressman frankly. “Why can’t you deploy them, at least to the ocean, bring one of these down, and find out who’s doing it?”

“I wrote to Secretary Lloyd Austin asking that the capability, which may be sitting in a closet somewhere — I know they use it all the time — be brought out,” he added. “I’m not saying you’ve got to share it with the sheriffs. It’d be nice. Just do it yourself in the interests of the American public. I would ask if you would echo that request. DoD has the capability, and maybe Homeland Security does as well.”

“I’d just say I share your concern,” replied Wheeler. “I share a lot of frustration, and I’m more than willing to continue working with the Department of Defense to try to get better. Again, if they don’t have the authority, they can do it on an emergency basis. Just send that capability out to the ocean, to the beach, because they’re coming in every day. Figure out which one it is, bring them down, and then retrieve it to find out what’s going on.”

Governor Phil Murphy has become personally involved in the investigation.

“I was on with the White House and Homeland Security leadership literally at the very top yesterday, pretty much all day,” Governor Murphy told the press on Monday. “I’m hoping we’ll get answers sooner than later. I would just ask folks to continue to let FBI or local law enforcement know if they see something.”

“These are apparently very sophisticated,” Gov. Murphy said of the drones. “The minute you get eyes on them, they go dark. We’re obviously mostly concerned about sensitive targets and sensitive/critical infrastructure. So you’ve got military assets, utility assets, you’ve got the President-elect, one of his homes here. This is something we’re taking deadly seriously.”

(contributing writer, Brooke Bell)