What We Know About the Drones

Q: Who is flying the drones that are appearing over the East Coast? A: On Dec. 17, four federal agencies said they followed up more than 5,000 reported drone sightings and determined that they were lawful private and law enforcement drones and other aircraft “mistakenly reported as drones.” The agencies said the drones do not pose a security threat. FULL QUESTION Are there currently drones from China in Atlanta, GA? FULL ANSWER Over the past month, beginning Nov. 18, New Jersey residents have reported a number of drone sightings in at least 10 counties. The sightings initially sparked concern over their proximity to Picatinny Arsenal, a military research facility in Morris County. Timothy Rider, a spokesperson for Picatinny Arsenal, confirmed in a Nov. 21 email to the War Zone, a military news site, that the drones were not theirs. “We remind everyone that it is unlawful to fly UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] over Picatinny Arsenal and any other federal military installation without prior authorization,” Rider said. Rider told us in a phone interview that while it was difficult to pinpoint the location of the drones, they had been seen “over or near” Picatinny. The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary...