NewsNation investigative correspondent Rich McHugh admitted in a Friday report he did not “pay much credence” to concerns about drones flying over New Jersey, but after seeing it firsthand he’s thinking a little differently.
“I gotta be honest here. You know when this story first came out a few weeks ago, as a resident of New Jersey, as a journalist, I didn’t pay it much credence,” he reported. “I thought it would turn out to be a bunch of pranksters and this would all be over by now, the experience I had last night, however, changed the way I feel about this story completely.”
McHugh said was he saw was “more sophisticated than I ever imagined.”
Reporting from Red Bank, New Jersey, McHugh showed footage of a large drone with multiple bright lights attached. He said in an hour he witnessed “40-50 drones.” One was still flying behind him during his report. The journalist said the drones were about eight to 10 feet wide and all carried bright lights.
“Definitely not an airplane, but what was it?” he asked.
Police launched their own drone to try and intercept the aircrafts, but said these drones avoid detection because they do not give off heat signatures like most drones.
“It’s not something we’ve had our hands on, it’s not something we’ve experienced,” one officer told
The FBI and Homeland Security have said the drone activity is not a threat or from a foreign country as some have suggested. There is still, however, no explanation for who exactly is manning these drones.
“To be clear, they have uncovered no such malicious activity or intent at this stage,” a joint statement released this week reads. “While there is no known malicious activity occurring in New Jersey, the reported sightings there do, however, highlight the insufficiency of current authorities.”
Watch above via NewsNation.