Gov. Phil Murphy was asked Monday what message he had for people in New Jersey who have been staring up at the night sky anxiously looking for flying lights, worried about a strange wave of reported drone sightings in recent weeks.
“First of all, I’d say calm down,” Murphy said during a news conference at the Statehouse in Trenton. “There’s no evidence of anything nefarious here. We never say never, but … take a breath.”
Murphy also said drone sighting reports in the state were “down meaningfully” of late — to just 12 on Saturday night and one on Sunday night. That’s a drop from 49 last Sunday. He did note there was “bad weather” this weekend, with rainy, foggy conditions that could have affecting sightings.
The governor was peppered with questions again Monday as the state and country continue to be captivated by mysterious accounts of drones — unmanned or remote-controlled aircraft — in the air above Jersey and neighboring states, including sightings by law enforcement and military officials.
The FBI said last week it had received more than 3,000 reports of alleged drone sightings in the Garden State since it began investigating earlier this month, though federal officials now believe many were airplanes or helicopters mistaken for drones.
Murphy suggested this weekend was a turning point as the federal government on Friday and Saturday sent three “very sophisticated systems” overseen by “really sophisticated individuals” to New Jersey to help the State Police detect and track the objects and determine whether they are drones. The governor, who had been asking the federal government for more help, said the systems have a range of 15 miles and are moving around the state.
So far, he said, “there may be suspicious activity out there as we stand here today, but there is little to no evidence of that right now,” based on what the new systems have shown.
“Is it possible there’s still some activity out there that’s quote-unquote suspicious? It is,” Murphy added. “But they are not seeing much of any of that right now.”
“Is it possible that before these systems arrived back in November, when we were fighting this thing only with our own assets, was it possible that there was activity then? Yes, it is possible. It’s hard to say otherwise.”
Murphy went into the field Sunday night to see for himself, stopping at State Police headquarters in West Trenton and Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County. He joined the FBI at the latter.
“These are as sophisticated at they get,” Murphy said of the systems. “And I’m thankful for the fact that they’re finally in New Jersey.”
Murphy said he understands the concern. For days, officials — including the governor — said they didn’t believe residents were in danger, though they couldn’t immediately explain what was in the sky or where the objects came from. That caused a combination of confusion, fear, frustration, guessing, and conspiracy theories from residents and elected officials seeking answers.
There were also questions about how much of this was legitimate. The White House, FBI, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security said last week many of the sightings are people mistaking ordinary aircraft for drones. That led to stunned reactions by many officials in New Jersey who felt the federal government was telling them they were simply seeing things.
During a television interview Sunday, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas clarified there is “no question” that some of the objects are drones and the federal government “deployed additional resources, personnel, and technology to assist the New Jersey State Police” to address the sightings.
Mayorkas also noted there are thousands of drones flown legally every day in the U.S., including recreational — or hobbyist — and commercial drones. He said the Federal Aviation Administration changed rules in 2023 so drones could fly at night. That could explain some of the sightings, he said.
Murphy said “this has been my life the last few weeks.”
“I can’t walk out that door and have somebody not stop me and say, ‘Tell me what’s going on with the drones,’” the governor said. “And I get that completely. It’s unnerving and it’s really when life is not a math problem with X plus Y equals Z where there’s a hard and fast answer.”
“People rightfully get uncomfortable, a little bit anxious. I just wish elected officials were calm influences in the absence of more knowledge.”
Asked if this is all just mass hysteria driven by inflated sighting numbers, Murphy said: “I hesitate to use mass hysteria because I think the anxiety is legitimate.”
“It implies that people are completely hearing footsteps and there’s nothing there. But I do think there is a huge mismatch right now between the noise and the reality.”
Murphy insisted there is “zero evidence“ that “somebody’s hiding the pea here, that the federal government or our military or somebody knows what’s going on here, and they’re not admitting to it.”
“There’s a lot of conspiracy theories out there right now,” the Democratic governor said. “Let’s put that one, with the Iranians, off to the side.”
That’s a reference to a claim made by U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd Dist., that an Iranian drone “mothership” was behind the issue.
“We’re gonna stay at this,” Murphy added. “We’ll continue to pound away to make sure we have the assets and, once we have them from the feds, that we keep them long enough that the conclusions we’re drawing are the right ones.”
Murphy’s latest comments came the same day President-elect Donald Trump was asked about drones during his own news conference at his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida.
Trump, a Republican who takes office next month, said he believes “the government knows what is happening” but “for some reason, they don’t want to comment.”
“I can’t imagine it’s the enemy, because if it was, they’d blast it out,” he added. “Something strange is going on.”
Trump also noted alleged drones have been sighted “very close to Bedminster” — a reference to the golf club he owns and sometimes lives at in Somerset County.
“I think maybe I won’t spend the weekend in Bedminster,” he said. “I’ve decided to cancel my trip.”
Back in New Jersey, Murphy also noted more people are peering skyward right now, likely contributing to the spike in sightings.
“Eighteen to 19 million eyeballs (are) looking up at the sky every night,” the governor said.
“I’m doing it myself. We take the dog out. The other night, I’m looking up, and I’m trying to figure out: Is it a star? Is it an aircraft? What is that? So I get it.”
In addition, Murphy said, there are “probably some folks out there messing with this” by flying their own drones.
Murphy also said the country needs better laws to give state and local governments authorities on drones.
“In the longer term, as they said in ‘Jaws,’ we need a bigger boat,” he said. “We need a different approach here, both at the federal level and at the state level.”
“This is a wake-up call. Thankfully a benign wake-up call, you know, nobody’s gotten hurt.”
But others still want answers. State Assemblyman Brian Bergen, R-Morris — a former military helicopter pilot — told reporters Monday “we need to figure out where these things are coming from right now” and that “all of the governor’s resources, all of his manpower … should be dedicated to figure out why are they there, and what’s going on right now.”
Meanwhile, Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips, R-Bergen, introduced a resolution urging a federal probe, saying “residents deserve to know that their sightings … are being taken seriously.”
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on X at @johnsb01.
