The mystery drones that befuddled New Jersey residents last fall were approved by the FAA and were a combination of “research,” hobbyist and other aircraft, President Donald Trump’s press secretary said Tuesday.
“After research and study, (we’ve found) the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Tuesday press conference.
That information was “directly” from President Donald Trump, she said, adding, “Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.”
Meanwhile, mystery drones continue to appear over Wyoming’s least-populated county, Niobrara County Sheriff Randy Starkey told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday.
Starkey is meeting with a drone expert Wednesday to discuss what three months of sightings of patterned, coordinated drone flights over his county could mean.
“I have no idea what the hell is going on with those things,” Starkey said in an earlier interview, last week. “I’ve wracked my brain.”
Niobrara County residents first reported sightings of coordinated, multi-drone flights at around dusk over the Lance Creek area in October. And they are still seeing those, said Starkey.
Some of the drones hovered over a ranch house earlier this month, while some flew in a grid-style pattern, the sheriff added.
Governor Asks ‘What?’
Starkey isn’t the only Wyoming official wracking his brain over mystery drones.
Gov. Mark Gordon met with Trump earlier this month to discuss federal versus state policy maneuvers. And he asked about drones over important Wyoming structures.
“Gordon also shared with the President-elect that Wyoming — like other states — has seen drone incursions over critical infrastructure, which governors recognize as a national security concern,” said a Jan. 10 statement from the governor’s office.
Gordon’s spokesman Michael Pearlman said Tuesday he was working to confirm answer’s to Cowboy State Daily’s questions on the matter. This story will be updated if Pearlman ventures more information within hours of its publication.
The Wyoming Office of Homeland Security has established a drone website to collect drone sighting tips and as a resource to help people identify what they’re seeing, Pearlman added.
“For security reasons,” he said, “I’m not going to elaborate further about the time and location of any additional sightings.”
F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne is one of three strategic missile bases in the United States and a critical infrastructure piece.
The base declined last month to disclose specific instances or numbers of drone incursions over its area of operations “due to operational and physical security concerns.”
“However,” the base spokesman said at the time, “we are aware of and have investigated several drone flyovers this year.”
The Cheyenne Regional Airport said Tuesday it hasn’t had drones in its airspace.
Exactly
When New Jersey resident and retired U.S. Army command Sgt. Maj. Scott Mechkowski heard the president’s announcement, he laughed.
“Amazing how that all happened right after the election and everything,” said Mechkowski.
He had theorized all along that the drones were either an exercise by the U.S. government or known and friendly to it.
“The government knew exactly who the drones belonged to,” he said. “It’s not surprising they’re saying that, and they’re saying they’re not hostile —but they’re not telling you whose drones they were.”
Mechowski floated possibilities of U.S. Space Force, Department of Energy or CIA exercises.
Mapping, Probably
New Jersey Army National Guard Col. David Melendez, who also operates a drone response team for the fire department of New York City, was with his drone team Tuesday when the president’s announcement surfaced.
He, too, felt the announcement confirmed his initial thinking from December, when he had theorized that the drones were conducting a nighttime mapping operation, possibly to weigh the consequences of a recent earthquake.
Melendez noted that the drones were flying according to their rules, at under 400 feet altitude and with the proper lighting.
Why former President Joe Biden didn’t just say the drones were FAA approved is “what confused me from the beginning,” said Melendez.
Both Mechkowski and Melendez said they stopped seeing mystery drone flights in mid- to late December.
The people of New Jersey calmed down around that time too, Mechkowski said.
“People in Jersey don’t let shit go that easy, you know what I mean?” said Mechkowski. “So the government did an effective job of not saying anything.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
