Bit concerning that no government agencies have figured out what’s going on, but hardly seems like there is a reason for a limited state of emergency given there is no known threat at all.
My guess is a US company is gathering data and hasn’t admitted to do so without some type of licensing/etc
> Bit concerning that no government agencies have figured out what’s going on
I wouldn't be betting against this being a government agency. Anywhere between local cops and black/budgetless agencies you'd go to jail for even having heard of.
That, or maybe organised crime. A friend of mine used to have what turned out to be a high level drug dealer living/working a few doors up the street. They'd fly DJI drones off the balcony and hover them where they could monitor the roads leading in and out of the area, presumably watching for cops. One night an unexpectedly large amount of unmarked cars all converged on that property, followed about 90 seconds later by about a dozen fully lit up and sirening cop cars. The occupants of the first batch of unmarked cars swept up about 8 people running away when the lit up marked cars turned into the street.
That's the beauty of things like this. Most local municipalities are just not equipped for this type of situation. The feds are, but the locals have to become aware, realize they can't do anything, and then request help. A mayor calls the governor, the governor calls the feds. That's the hierarchy, and that's pretty much what happened.
There was an article 1-2 days ago saying that one was in the area of a LifeFlight helicopter, preventing the safe operation of that medical transport. There has been a threat articulated. It may not be a true report and the response may not be proportional/appropriate to the threat, but to say there is zero threat is wrong.
Also, reportedly these are the size of SUVs. I don’t believe you need that much of an investment for “gathering data”.
> Also, reportedly these are the size of SUVs. I don’t believe you need that much of an investment for “gathering data”.
A drone of such size has larger payload, further range and greater persistence than a smaller craft. Since the operator hasn't been identified we don't have an answer to their mission yet.
Mystery drones this size have been a story in other areas in the USA over the preceding year without as much attention. They were never identified, and a motive never ascertained.
Yet this incident has happened several days in short succession in highly populated states/areas, and police have made public statements about this particular offender multiple times.
Once it gets some media traction / popular mindshare, it’s more likely to get policy makers to try and do something, even if that is a “limited state of emergency”.
Do you presume government agencies just always know what's going on everywhere? I'm not the least surprised that the government hasn't spent any resources finding out who's flying drones around if they haven't caused any damage or been in airspace they're not allowed to be in.
>My guess is a US company is gathering data and hasn’t admitted to do so without some type of licensing/etc
My guess is "Flowers By Irene" or more likely someone contracted to do stuff on their behalf for optics/politics reasons. Real companies that do drone stuff are pretty by the book because they know the fed crosshairs are on them.
That's my impression as well. They could be tracking individuals or materials of interest coming from the ports which is why they're over NJ specifically.
My guess is a US company is gathering data and hasn’t admitted to do so without some type of licensing/etc