Drone 'Fell Out of The Sky,' New Jersey 911 Caller Claims

A drone has crashed into the ground in New Jersey amid repeated reported sightings of the unmanned flying devices along the East Coast, according to local law enforcement.

Police scanner reports in Morris County, New Jersey indicated that a drone had crashed in the area on Friday morning, with one officer reporting that more remote-controlled aircraft were spotted in the sky around the scene of the crash.

The news comes after a surge in drone sightings that have baffled state law enforcement, as well as the FBI, since November, with authorities unsure about the nature and origin of the drones despite extensive security protocols.

In a police scanner report released on social media, one officer described a 911 response in which someone called in a drone crash near their house, adding that 10 additional drones appeared at the crash site.

The officer said, "It was a crash, a crash. A drone fell out of the sky by the powerlines behind their house, and then 10 more showed up."

This kind of grouping-up behavior is consistent with other reports of the drones. On Tuesday, Representative Chris Smith, of New Jersey's 4th district, told Congress about a similar situation in which a group of 12 drones followed a coastguard vehicle at sea.

"So last night, I was on the beach park in Ocean County with the sheriff. He has been working every single night, he's got his own tethered drones chronicling, and one of his officers two nights ago, saw 50 drones coming off the ocean right there," Smith said.

Newsweek contacted Morris County authorities for an update on the situation via email outside of normal working hours.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy confirmed that on Sunday there were almost 50 reported drone sightings across the state. He told residents he was taking the incidents "deadly seriously," as other states began reporting sightings in December.

Sightings have been reported in three states along the East Coast: New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. However, the greatest number of sightings has occurred in New Jersey, where drones have been spotted in more than five counties.

Despite the FBI receiving over 3,000 reports from the public, and increasing pressure from lawmakers to get to the bottom of the drones the bureau told Congress on Tuesday that "we don't know" who is behind the vehicles, despite the fact that multiple drones have been sighted flying near sensitive military sites.

Correction, 12/16/2024, 9:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated to remove a reference to New England.

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