Kittery, Maine — Dozens of alleged drone sightings coming out of New Jersey prompted the White House to convene two multi-agency press briefings in the past week.
In their most recent meeting on December 14, the FBI, DHS, and FAA reiterated that they do not believe the drones identified represent a threat to national security. However, the organizations are still looking into the origins and operators of these drones.
Representatives from those agencies did, however, state that sightings have been significantly rising.
According to an FBI official, they have received approximately 5,000 tips via a nationwide tip line, but fewer than 100 of them have been considered worthy of investigation.
Some of these reports are now coming from Maine.
Ken and Judy Galle were aware of the sightings from New Jersey, but their house in Kittery is hundreds of miles distant.
That’s why, on the evening of December 12, they were shocked to discover one of the drones hovering just down the street from their home.
“She looks out the window and says, ‘What’s that?'” Ken Galle recalls. “And I’m looking out the windshield and I say, ‘That looks a lot like one of those drones!'”
The couple claimed they discovered it while driving down Haley Road. They described the drone as huge and rectangle-shaped, with lights at each corner. It was calm, flying a few hundred feet in the sky.
The Galles believed that the bizarre occurrence had spread to Maine, and they are not alone.
NEWS CENTER. Maine has received direct reports and seen social media posts alleging that these drones have been sighted around the state, including Portland, Auburn, and the Waterville area.
Federal agencies did not specifically reference Maine at Saturday’s conference, but an FBI official described part of the public anxiety as a “slight overreaction” motivated by fear.
Federal officials underline that drones are much more ubiquitous than most people realize. According to the FAA, there are over one million lawfully functioning drones in the United States, which are employed for anything from surveys to scientific monitoring.
In Scarborough, for example, drones were recently employed to examine beaches.
“The drone being used was probably about a foot to 18 inches around—fairly small,” Scarborough’s sustainability manager, Jami Fitch, explained.
However, that depiction differs from what the Galles claimed to have seen.
“This was huge. “I can’t say it was the size of a car, as some people have claimed, but it could have been 10 to 12 feet long,” Ken Galle said.
While White House agencies believe some of the assertions are suspect, they are continuing to investigate. There is currently little information available on who may be piloting the drones or where they are coming from.
“I’m not worried about it, but it certainly is concerning that we as a nation don’t know what these things are,” Mr. Galle said.
The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI issued a joint statement on December 12 insisting that there is no national security threat. However, they did admit that the investigation had identified a gap.
The statement begins with this: “While there is no known malicious activity occurring in New Jersey, the reported sightings there do, however, highlight the insufficiency of current authorities.”
For people like the Galles, the lack of answers is unsettling.
“Can they track them on radar?” Where are they landing? Where are they going? “Where do they come from?” Ken Galle asked.
Federal agencies have indicated the prospect of introducing legislation that would broaden and strengthen their authority to detect and prevent possible drone threats.