Hochul presses Biden admin for action on mysterious drones: 'This has gone too far'

[riversedge]

Source: the hill.



by Juliann Ventura - 12/14/24 1:10 PM ET



New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) joined the growing number of figures calling on the Biden administration and lawmakers to act on the mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey and other parts of the country.

“In order to allow state law enforcement to work on this issue, I am now calling on Congress to pass the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act,” Hochul wrote Saturday in a statement, referring to legislation that would expand the authority of the Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) departments to address threats from unmanned aerial systems, as well as additional oversight power to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“Extending these powers to New York State and our peers is essential. Until those powers are granted to state and local officials, the Biden Administration must step in by directing additional federal law enforcement to New York and the surrounding region to ensure the safety of our critical infrastructure and our people,” she added.

The pressure comes amid mounting reports of sightings in New Jersey, New York and, according to Philadelphia’s WPVI-TV, multiple reports of flying objects within Delaware and Philadelphia counties. The Pentagon on Wednesday denied that any foreign country was behind the mysterious drones that have also flown near sensitive U.S. military sites.

..........................................

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5040569-kathy-hochul-biden-administration-mystery-drone-sightings/

---

I can understand lawmakers--of all parties getting edgy over what is going on over their skies.

Link to tweet

[angrychair]

1. This issue is odd

Is there confirmed actual video of the incidents? People say "drones" but that is a very generic description. Are they little ones or a predator drone size, which is the size of a small aircraft.
Huge difference.
If we are taking about little ones I'd say it's just people playing games to get people excited.and get in the news.
If they are large ones, I'd say it's something else.

Also, why do people keep saying "aliens" it makes us sound stupid.

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. Large enough to see them with the naked eye at night n/t

[angrychair]

31. Apparently seen

But never any good video or pictures. At least none that are verified authentic from a trust government source. Curious. It's like the bigfoot of the sky.

[William Seger]

23. There are photos that appear to be quadcopter drones

[Polybius]

26. They aren't little, they're massive

I saw then in Staten Island last night, and whatever they are, they're not Walmart drones.

[LymphocyteLover]

44. can you please give more description of what exactly you saw?

how far away were they and how do you know they were not some other type of craft?

[Polybius]

47. Sure

I live on Staten Island, and often do see airplanes at night (JFK and Newark are after all close by), and an occasional NYPD helicopter. However, what I saw was much different. There were as many as 12-15 up in the night sky at once, and some made U-turns in the opposite direction. Every one of them had lights.

They weren't nearly as high as a jumbo jet, but they were significantly higher than a Walmart drone.

I do not know exactly for sure what they are. My best guess is large drones. Could be helicopters. Or something else (DU needs an alien emoji).

[LymphocyteLover]

48. thanks!

[Traildogbob]

27. "That" makes us

Sound stupid?????? Have ya seen interviews of Trump supporters at Diners and town Halls. Or Boebert talking in Congress about deep sea aliens fucking with our DNA???
Or…..never mind. The stupid sounds are everywhere.

[TexasBushwhacker]

2. We have them in Houston too

We also have 47 operating oil refineries. Another 19 are in Louisiana. With 132 operating refineries in the US, Texas and Louisiana have roughly half.

[MichMan]

4. Mayorkas says they have seen nothing unusual and there is no threats or nefarious activity

No reason to doubt him. People need to take him at his word

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mayorkas-says-new-jersey-drones-a-case-of-mistaken-identity/vi-AA1vRd2h?ocid=BingNewsSerp

[Big Blue Marble]

6. When the governor of one of our most populous states

reports that an airport had to shut down due to unknown drone activity, when she
requests help and information from the federal government, I think we need to pay
attention and not take the word of a government official trained to play down concerns.

[LymphocyteLover]

45. but is she acting on direct info or from a citizenry riled up by hype in the news?

[riversedge]

5. The U.S. Air Force said several small unmanned aircraft were detected near four military bases in England that are used

'Drones were also spotted last month in the U.K. The U.S. Air Force said several small unmanned aircraft were detected near four military bases in England that are used by American forces.'

[Big Blue Marble]

7. Also there has been similar drone activity over our bases in Germany. N/T

[LymphocyteLover]

46. this sort of thing happens all the time, there are UFO reports around military bases

going back decades

[LisaM]

8. It annoys me that people think it's okay to fly drones around.

I feel as if there is enough stuff to worry about without some asshole who wants to fly drones where I live or take walks or go to work. We used to take our dogs to a park in Seattle and have to dodge jerks who were flying their stupid toys around.

Enough. It they want to have indoor drone spaces where these children can play with their toys, fine, but stay out of our night skies.

[Historic NY]

9. If the goverment can't tell us because they don't know then its time for the hunt

Its not normal even my local PD is getting calls and its spread around in various states.

nk:|







https://www.pcmag.com/news/us-air-force-orders-anti-drone-net-filled-shotgun-shells

[Dem2theMax]

10. Apparently, they are now in San Diego County as well.

Sightings last night, on video.

Honestly, I think it's Musk. They need chaos.
What better way to create it?

[AntiFascist]

14. The article doesn't mention that Hochul was responding to NY airport runways that had to be shut down due to drones...

...Kathy Hochul gave a statement Saturday morning noting, "Last night, the runways at Stewart Airfield were shut down for approximately one hour due to drone activity in the airspace. This has gone too far."

https://www.thetravel.com/drone-sightings-east-coast/

[leftyladyfrommo]

15. I think it has Musk's name all over it

But that just a guess.

[defacto7]

16. What is so difficult about detecting their point of origin?

The whole thing seems a bit absurd. Such things should be easily detectable considering our technical capabilities, a list longer than I care to think about.

[reACTIONary]

19. Unless they don't exist....

.... I suspect that most of these "drones" are just normal air traffic, and we are experiencing yet another moral panic.

[defacto7]

21. I wouldn't doubt that for a moment.

LOL. We could be entering a "hair on fire" phase like we've never seen before.

[reACTIONary]

24. Like a wildfire, it will soon...

.... burn out. After consuming hundreds of hectares of brain cells.

[Rebl2]

22. Nope

My husband saw them and they did not act like normal air traffic. We have a lot of planes fly over our house and these did not act like airplanes.

[reACTIONary]

25. I'll believe it when...

... we get good evidence, like a really good picture.

In the mean time, why in the world would anyone be flying dozens of car sized drones aimlessly around at night? All up and down the East Coast? What is the purpose?

It is ridiculous that that is being done.

[Polybius]

29. Possible government expirament?

Musk with new toys? Could be anything.

[reACTIONary]

33. No, it can't be anything....

... if someone is flying dozens of drones around, there would have to be a credible reason, and there isn't. Saying "its the government" is the "reason" given for anything that does not have a reason.

As it happens, I work for an organization that develops and tests advanced drones for the military. It is done in a very controlled, disciplined and careful way. And there is no reason for it to be otherwise.

Especially since it is usually a classified activity, and you don't go out in public with your classified technology.

[Polybius]

34. Not literally anything

But could be several possibilities. Musk could be one of them. I think he has developed some pretty technology that is still experimental.

[intelpug]

39. Musk

Maybe I am wrong but I just don't see him or any of them bothering with something like this

[littlemissmartypants]

40. He could certainly finance such activities...

For his own sh¡ts and giggles. Seems entirely on brand for him. Juvenile and annoying.

[intelpug]

38. Good evidence

Given the fact that some posters on this board have said to have seen them, "over Staten Island last night" for instance, I for one don't think they are deluded, hallucinating, or simply mistaken. I will take them at their word

[defacto7]

42. Agreed, but I'm not going to say people aren't seeing something, mainly

because that isn't what really matters where evidence is concerned. Finding where they originate doesn't take a government to figure out. There are plenty of civilian ways to do it. It's not that difficult. A reasonable theory of motive helps, but conspiracy is easier to conjure than reason in such cases. So, for me, it's just a curiosity of human nature until the evidence is fairly clear. I expect to have a good laugh in the end.

[Polybius]

28. They do, I just saw them

I live in NYC.

[Rebl2]

32. I am in MO

Husband saw them last week in MO. Went on for four hours.

[FakeNoose]

17. Thank you Governor Hochul!

Don't let the media continue to scoff at this serious issue.

If the federal government knows what's going on they need to tell us NOW!
If they DON'T know they need to find out immediately. It could be life or death, or maybe it's nothing.
We need to know.

[IronLionZion]

18. The conspiracy theories are pretty wild

It could be settled with a statement from the feds. Sure they said it's not dangerous or foreign but that still leaves a lot of open questions.

[mjvpi]

20. Obviously it's Santa getting a leg up.

[RockRaven]

30. Unless the FAA grounds every airplane and POTUS can actually do something

about the stars, planets, and the moon... also satellites and, well, bugs, we will never be entirely rid of reports of "mystery drone sightings" so really the issue is one of how much "doing something about it" is appropriate and reasonable in the name of safety and security (as opposed to a waste of time and money and pointless loss of liberties). Beyond that there isn't much point of doing more just to appease unrealistic people.

Has Biden et al. done enough? I don't know, probably not, but they are not capable of making these reports go away entirely. Because the reports are highly unlikely to go away entirely even with a perfectly effective magic spell that would remove every drone in existence. History tells us, based on UFOs and cryptids and ghosts, that not every "drone sighting" is actually a drone.

[electric_blue68]

37. I love your phrase:

"the issue is one of how much "doing something about it."

Kinda of fun way of putting it, even though it might be serious

[The Mouth]

35. God Damnit President Biden

Do something *NOW*.

Shoot the damned things down and jail the assholes flying them for a few years of hard labor.

[Skittles]

43. um

https://www.wired.com/story/us-military-mystery-drones-response/

[kacekwl]

36. Seems like she's calling on congress

not Biden.