A fed up New Jersey sheriff said he tried to track mysterious drones swarming over his county, but the drones “easily” evaded his efforts.
The Ocean County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday put its own “industrial” drone in the air to track one of 50 unmanned aerial vehicles that local officers saw “coming out of the water.” Sheriff Michael Mastronardi said.
Troopers alerted state police, the FBI, and the U.S. Coast Guard. Coast Guard officials later reported that 13 drones with an 8-foot wingspan pursued one vessel.
The mysterious drone, which doesn’t emit heat like the more common version, was able to maneuver quickly and escape from his hands, Mastronardi told News Nation reporter Rich McHugh.
Do you have footage of drones flying over New Jersey or New York? Send it to The Post at drones@nypost.com.
McHugh told anchor Elizabeth Vargas the story Friday night, explaining that he initially thought the drone hysteria might have been caused by “pranksters” until he saw it himself.
“It would be even scarier if this wasn’t our military,” McHugh said. “These look like fixed wings and have multiple lights on them. I don’t really know what to make of what I saw last night. Both the cameraman and I were a little surprised.”
An unidentified SUV-sized aircraft has been roiling New Jersey residents since November 18, causing panic among residents.
Theories vary as to where the drones came from, with some believing they may have been sent by a foreign enemy.
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said Friday that there is nothing to fear and that people may be imagining it. He said most reports were likely cases of manned aircraft being mistaken for drones.
Since then, drones have been sighted in at least 12 New Jersey counties, as well as parts of eastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York.
