Reports of laser strikes on pilots up 269% in New Jersey over last year: FAA
There has been a 269% increase in reported laser strikes on planes in New Jersey this month compared to the same period last year, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, as authorities are warning people not to point lasers or shoot at aircraft they believe are drones amid a recent rash of reported sightings in Northeastern states.
The FAA said it has received "dozens of new laser reports" from pilots in airspace spanning New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania -- with laser strikes in New Jersey in particular up "significantly" in December.
There were 59 laser incidents reported by pilots between Dec. 1 and 16, according to the FAA. That compares to 16 over the same period last year, according to the FAA. There were even fewer reports in 2022 and 2021 during the same period, FAA data shows.
"Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a serious safety hazard and a violation of federal law," the FAA said in a statement.
When lasers are pointed into a cockpit, they fill the cockpit with the green light, which can cause temporary blindness for the pilots.
Earlier this week, authorities in New Jersey this week warned the public against dangerously taking drone matters into their own hands by pointing lasers at manned aircraft or shooting down suspected unmanned aircraft.
There has been an increase in pilots "being hit in the eyes with lasers because people on the ground think they see an Unmanned Aircraft Systems," the FBI in Newark and New Jersey State Police said Monday.
"We're also concerned people will take matters into their own hands and fire a weapon at an aircraft," FBI Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson Delgado said in a video message released on Monday. "Not only is this act against the law, but it poses an incredible danger to the pilots and passengers on those aircraft."
Dozens of agencies have been out daily to find answers and track down any operators acting "illegally or with nefarious intent," the FBI office said.
"However, there could be dangerous and possibly deadly consequences if manned aircraft are targeted mistakenly as UAS," the agency said.
Drone sightings have been reported in New Jersey and nearby statements for weeks, leading to concern from residents and speculation online. Local officials have demanded more information from the federal government on the activity.
The thousands of drone sightings reported over the last month in Northeastern states don't appear to be "anything anomalous," nor do they present a national security or public safety risk, federal officials said in a multiagency statement late Monday.
The FBI has received more than 5,000 tips in the last few weeks about drone sightings in New Jersey and other states, said the statement, which was released jointly by the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense.
Those tips have resulted in about 100 leads, with federal investigators supporting state and local officials.
"Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones," the joint statement said.
President Joe Biden addressed the recent drone sightings in remarks to reporters at the White House on Tuesday night, saying there is "nothing nefarious, apparently, but they're checking it all out."
"We're following this closely. So far no sense of danger," he added.
Several members of the House Intelligence Committee who attended a nearly three-hour classified briefing on Tuesday about the drone sightings also said they were informed the aircraft flying over the tristate area are not "nefarious" or operated by either the American government or foreign actors.
Government officials insisted most of the activity is "manned aircraft," Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., told reporters.
National security spokesman John Kirby told George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that the federal government continues to be "honest and transparent with the American people" about the unexplained drone activity happening along the East Coast.
"After days of going through the various tips, days of looking at analysis, days of increasing our detection capabilities, including visual observers on the ground, we assessed that these drones, these aircraft people are seeing are a mix of law enforcement drones, commercial drones and hobbyists. We continue to see nothing that indicates a public safety risk or national security risk," Kirby said.
Kirby offered a few explanations for why people may be seeing more drones in recent weeks, including simply that there are "an awful lot of drones in the sky."
"There are 1 million drones registered with the FAA here in the United States. Thousands upon thousands fly in our skies legally and lawfully every single day doing all kinds of good things for the public good. The Northeast corridor is one of the busiest," he said.
ABC News' Pierre Thomas, Kevin Shalvey, Lauren Peller, Arthur Jones II and Isabella Murray contributed to this report.
