Mysterious planes are flying over New Jersey. Here’s what big drones are made for

New York
CNN
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Large drones have become a great topic In New Jersey: Residents report seeing drones the size of small cars at night; Officials don’t know if they’re seeing anything out of the ordinary, or if they’re drones.

But despite the sightings in New Jersey, large drones do exist. And they could have many potential applications for hobbyists, commercial users or the military, according to unmanned aircraft experts.

“There are many uses for these devices. It’s almost limitless,” Ryan Wallace, an associate professor of aeronautical engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, told CNN.

Law enforcement officials, including the FBI, are still trying to confirm what New Jersey residents are seeing and where they are coming from, or whether they are drones as opposed to regular aircraft that people are misidentifying.

“We have had reports from the public and law enforcement for several weeks,” the FBI office in Newark said. December 3.

New Jersey residents have described drones flying overhead, sometimes in groups.

Drone sightings have been reported in Morris and Somerset counties, according to local officials. Both counties are in the New York metropolitan area.

But the sightings did not occur only among the concerned population. The US Coast Guard, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, said one of its assets encountered drones.

Department of Homeland Security and White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said many of the sightings reported Thursday are in fact “manned aircraft” operating legally, and experts told CNN that the video they reviewed appeared to be “sightseeing” objects. airplanes

The White House also said there is “no evidence at this time” that the mysterious incidents “pose a threat to national security or public safety or have a foreign connection.”

However, New Jersey the neighbors are disappointed for lack of clear answers about what they are seeing.

“You see red and green lights at the corners. It will change direction, like go from 90 degrees to 270 degrees, fly in different directions,” a New Jersey resident told CNN. “And airplanes obviously can’t do that.”

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he is also pressing the federal government for more information. in one the message Xn, Murphy said he spoke with US National Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall “to discuss my concerns about the federal government’s response.”

Most people are familiar with small drones used by hobbyists for photography. In theory, a hobbyist could also buy or build a larger drone.

“The wings are not something that adds a lot of weight in terms of the mass of the drone, they are actually the lightest parts of the drone,” said Pramod Abichandani, director of the Institute’s Advanced Air Mobility Laboratory in New Jersey. technology “Even when you’re looking at multi-rotor drones, like a quadcopter…the extensions on that quadcopter are basically carbon fiber rods, very light.”

Weight is important because you need a special permit from the Federal Aviation Administration to fly drones that weigh more than 55 pounds, according to William Austin, president of Warren Community College in New Jersey, where he studied unmanned aircraft and started the school. drone program

Enthusiasts should also be prepared to shell out big bucks for such large drones, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars, experts say.

Often, large drones are used for commercial or military purposes. For example, they can be used for agriculture, surveying fields or spraying. Or for infrastructure, to evaluate the condition of roads and buildings or to carry out mapping. (However, for those applications, the drones would need to fly during the day rather than at night, which is when the New Jersey sightings reportedly occurred.)

Some law enforcement agencies have begun using drones search and rescuealthough they don’t necessarily need extra-large drones for that.

Larger and heavier drones have also been used for commercial transport (think deliveries). “It’s not very common, but it’s not unheard of either,” Wallace said.

The military can use large drones equipped with all kinds of sensors (from powerful traditional cameras to infrared sensors) for surveillance.

And in the coming years, Americans may start seeing even bigger and more powerful drones flying around, Austin said, just like the ones made. EHang Company of China to transport people

But for now, he said, “you won’t see them here because you have to go through several FAA clearance steps. There are so few that would have that kind of credentials that the FAA would know pretty quickly who was flying that kind of drone in national airspace.”