海角大神

Last month, drones flying over two military installations on the East Coast prompted 鈥渢housands鈥� of phone calls to report them, raising the latest in a series of questions that have swirled for months around mysterious drones spotted above U.S. military bases and other sensitive locations throughout the country.

The most recent were in New Jersey, including over a Defense Department research center, Picatinny Arsenal, specializing in developing weapons, some secret, for future wars.聽

This comes on the heels of reports of drones that loitered over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia off and on for nearly two weeks. There were more sightings earlier this month at Ramstein, the Pentagon鈥檚 premiere hub in Germany, and at U.S. military facilities in the United Kingdom late last month.

Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a New Jersey Republican, theorized that the drones at U.S. sites were being deployed by an Iranian 鈥渕othership鈥� in the Atlantic, prompting some eye rolls and a denial by the Pentagon. But the concern is bipartisan, with some Democrats pointing to the possibility of Chinese meddling.聽

The Biden administration has tried to assuage fears. 鈥淚 think there has been a slight overreaction,鈥� an official with the FBI said in a background call with reporters Saturday.

But the inability of the federal government to provide definitive explanations and solutions has generated annoyance, suspicion, and calls for action.

鈥淟et the public know, and now,鈥� President-elect Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform. 鈥淥therwise, shoot them down!!!鈥澛�

Shooting down drones is illegal, the Federal Aviation Administration has been quick to note, unless they pose an immediate threat to national security, but the lack of options short of that has led to growing questions about whether oversight of U.S. skies is too lax 鈥� and just what can be done about it.聽

There is legislation in the works to give state and local officials more power to track and counter drones 鈥� a move the FBI 鈥渟trongly supports,鈥� Robert Wheeler Jr., assistant director of the bureau鈥檚 Critical Incident Response Group, told lawmakers earlier this month.

For now, a Pentagon official said on the weekend background call, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what the activity is. We don鈥檛 know ... if it鈥檚 criminal. But I will tell you that it is irresponsible.鈥�

It鈥檚 legal to fly a drone below 400 feet in most places. There are just a few 鈥渟imple rules鈥� that those 鈥渇lying for fun鈥� should follow, the FAA noted in an informational post it published online Friday.聽

These include 鈥渒eeping the drone in sight, avoiding all other aircraft, and not causing a hazard to any people or property.鈥澛�

Hobbyists must also be at least 16 years old and pass a free online 鈥渂asic safety knowledge test,鈥� which can be taken through FAA-approved test administrators such as the Boy Scouts. There鈥檚 another set of regulations to fly drones commercially.

In all cases, 鈥淔lying near airports usually requires authorization from the FAA,鈥� the post notes.聽

These rules 鈥� and provisos like 鈥渦sually鈥� 鈥� have led some lawmakers to call U.S. drone laws lax.

There are more stringent rules for people who want to fly drones near U.S. military bases, which are generally designated 鈥渘o drone zones,鈥� and other sites deemed critical for national security.

Chinese national Yinpiao Zhou ran afoul of these regulations last month when a drone he appeared to be piloting loitered for an hour at nearly 5,000 feet above Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

When authorities tracked down and confronted Mr. Zhou in a nearby park, he tried to hide the drone 鈥� later found to contain sensitive photos of the base 鈥� under his jacket. He was arrested prior to boarding a flight to China with a one-way ticket.

Chasing down drone pilots is tricky, however 鈥� some said by way of Mr. Zhou鈥檚 defense that he would have to be the 鈥渨orst spy ever鈥� to have been caught.

More reliable will be developing a system of sensors to detect and track drones above military bases and secret government installations, says Stacie Pettyjohn, director of the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security think tank in Washington.

Such systems exist in Ukraine for its war against Russia, but 鈥淭he U.S. military doesn鈥檛 have many of them 鈥� they need to acquire a lot more,鈥� Dr. Pettyjohn says. The Pentagon is working on putting them in place.聽

Most radars are instead focused on faster, high-flying objects 鈥� missiles or jets, say, rather than slow and low-flying drones.聽

And even when they pose a threat, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to be shooting things out of the sky,鈥� Dr. Pettyjohn says. There鈥檚 the problem of shrapnel from drones exploding and crashing, causing injuries on the ground.

Better to put in place GPS jamming or spoofing so that defenders can, for example, hijack control of a drone and land it.

The Pentagon has limited authority to take military actions in the United States, however 鈥� there are even privacy considerations when it comes to tracking drones 鈥� so federal agencies will have to work together to better determine the threshold for deeming a flying vehicle suspicious, and for determining intent, Dr. Pettyjohn says.聽

For now, defense officials have been working to tamp down what is being referred to in some quarters as drone hysteria.聽

Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters at a news conference about a close relative of his who 鈥渇lies his drone all over and does amateur photography.鈥�

Wind can blow a drone 鈥渢oo close to a facility,鈥� he noted. 鈥淎nd is that a drone incident, or are we talking about something more serious, like the Langley incident, where there鈥檚 multiple drones operating over a facility for multiple days?鈥澛�

It鈥檚 a balancing act, Major General Ryder added. He said that 鈥渕any case sightings鈥� are actually of crewed aircraft.聽鈥淗ow do we make sure that we鈥檙e responsibly protecting our assets while at the same time not assuming every single aircraft is going to be a threat?鈥�