NJ county sheriff sends up his own drone to track mysterious flying objects

On By Littum

A fed-up New Jersey sheriff said he tried to track down the mysterious drones swarming the skies over his county — but they “easily” eluded the effort.

The Ocean County Sheriff’s office sent its own “industrial-grade” drone into the air Thursday in an attempt to follow one of 50 unmanned aerial vehicles that a local police officer saw “coming from the ocean,” Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said.


Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy speaks about airspace surveillance at a department meeting, amid reports of unidentified drone activity.
Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy launched his department’s own drone Thursday night to try to track the mysterious drone swarms across the state. Thomas P. Costello / Asbury Park Press / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The officer alerted the state police, the FBI and the US Coast Guard. Coast Guard officials then reported 13 drones, with wingspans of eight feet, following one of their vessels.

The mysterious drones, which do not emit heat like more typical versions, quickly maneuvered out of their claws, Mastronardy News Nation reporter Rich McHugh told.

Do you have footage of drones flying over the skies of New Jersey or New York? Send it to The Post at [email protected].

McHugh told the story Friday night to anchor Elizabeth Vargas and explain that he initially thought the drone hysteria might be the result of “pranksters” until he saw them himself.

“If this isn’t our military, then it’s even scarier,” McHugh said. “These things look like they have fixed wings and they have multiple lights. I’m not quite sure how to process what I saw last night. Both the photographer and I were a bit stunned.”


Officer Kevin Mason operates a Sheriff's Department drone at night and prepares to land in Seaside Heights to track unidentified drones
One of the Ocean County Sheriff’s drones prepares to land in Seaside Heights after launching to try to track the mysterious New Jersey drone swarms. Thomas P. Costello / Asbury Park Press / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The unidentified SUV-sized plane has been buzzing in New Jersey, panicking residents since November 18.

Theories about where the drones come from vary, and some believe they may have been sent by foreign adversaries.

On Friday, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said there was nothing to fear and that people might be imagining things. He said most reports were likely cases of manned aircraft being mistaken for drones.

Since then, drones have been spotted in at least 12 New Jersey counties, as well as parts of eastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York.