Rachel Campos-Duffy, spouse of President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for transportation secretary, slammed authorities officers Monday for offering zero solutions concerning the swarms of drones invading New Jersey’s airspace in current weeks.
The mysterious objects — which first appeared Nov. 18 — have alarmed residents and confounded authorities as they buzz over properties, neighborhoods and army installations in a dozen Backyard State counties evening after evening.
Final week, Gov. Phil Murphy stated in a social media submit that the drones pose “no known threat to the public at this time” — however his assertion hasn’t calmed residents’ frazzled nerves, Campos-Duffy advised Ainsley Earhardt on Fox & Mates.
“If you live in Morristown, Mendham, Summit, Bedminster, Far Hills — that whole area, that’s all you’re talking about,” she stated, referencing a cluster of rich Morris County suburbs.
“I think what you’re seeing is, first of all, no answers — whatever the governor put out was a non-answer, and it didn’t make me feel any better,” continued Campos-Duffy, who’s married to nominee Sean Duffy.
“And I don’t feel good — they’re flying low. They’re not up high like an airplane. They’re flying low, you can see them. And they’re large. They’re huge. These are not hobby drones.”
“People are outraged,” she added. “Three weeks, no answers.”
The feds have stated they’re investigating the occurrences, and Murphy wrote in the identical social media submit that he’s spoken with state and federal officers, together with US Homeland Safety Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
However nobody in regulation enforcement has give you a motive for the nightly flights — at the same time as witness movies flood the web.
One Morris County household who tried to observe a drone of their automobile claimed their car’s clock modified when the drone got here to a halt above them — and solely modified again as soon as they drove off, Newsweek reported.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have many answers, and we don’t want to guess or hypothesize about what’s going on,” FBI spokeswoman Amy J. Thoreson advised NJ.com final week.
“We are doing all we can to figure it out.”
A number of New Jersey mayors — together with Washington Township Mayor Matthew Murello and Mine Hill Township Mayor Sam Morris — penned a letter to the Democratic governor beseeching him to “take immediate action” and “provide transparency” concerning the thriller sightings, Fox Information stated.
However that hasn’t led to any breakthroughs.
“The governor was very nice in calling me back yesterday and basically said the same thing we’ve known all along: There doesn’t appear to be any safety concerns, but there’s really no information as to who’s piloting these drones, what they’re doing, where they’re going or where they’re coming from,” Murello advised Fox & Mates on Monday.
“And that’s really the main concern we have as mayors for our constituents.”
Morris added that Murphy’s workplace advised him they’re “very frustrated, and frustrated with the feds.”
He suggested the governor to “follow a drone home,” since their restricted vary and battery life means they will’t keep airborne for lengthy.
“Somebody get a drone up there, somebody get a helicopter up there,” Morris stated. “They have to come back to Earth, and then we’re going to know who’s driving them. If they don’t know, they need to know. That’s what our residents are demanding.”
There have already been real-world penalties for the mechanical joyrides — comparable to when one of many drones disrupted a medevac helicopter set to airlift a affected person.
The scores of sightings additionally led the Federal Aviation Administration to limit drone flights over Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County and the Trump Nationwide Golf Membership in Somerset.
“It’s a complete mystery,” Mark Chiarolanza, spokesman for the Morris County Sheriff’s Workplace, advised NJ.com.
Final week, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder stated the company had drawn up plans to cope with the sightings, which have additionally occurred over army websites in Virginia.
However he declined to share specifics of the categorized preparations.
“Unmanned systems, more commonly known as drones, have the potential to pose both an urgent and enduring threat to US personnel, facilities and assets overseas — and, increasingly, in the US homeland,” Ryder stated.
Campos-Duffy stated she thinks the US is in an period the place folks need extra transparency from their authorities — and that’s fueled demand for solutions about who’s flying the units, and why.
However she doesn’t have the within scoop, regardless of her husband’s high-profile nomination.
“People think I know something because Sean is up for the transportation secretary,” she stated.
“I don’t know anything! I have no idea what’s going on. I’m just as curious as everyone else.”
