Phil Murphy whines as Pete Buttigieg vanishes in drone crisis

In the last few days, over 180 car-sized drones have reportedly been seen flying over New Jersey, and somehow, to quote the local vernacular, “Nobody knows nuthin’.”

It doesn’t really matter where the drones have come from. It could be, according to Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), Iran. (The Pentagon denies this.) It could be Russia or China. It really doesn’t matter.

The orders should be: ‘Locate them, follow them home, and bring the whole world down on whatever you find.’

New Jersey residents haven’t quite realized the real drones are Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg and their own Gov. Phil Murphy. Buttigieg, a DEI appointee, did nothing when a hazmat train wreck devastated East Palestine, Ohio. Meanwhile, Murphy’s response has been little more than hand-wringing and complaints.

Buttigieg, supposedly in charge of all modes of transportation as head of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has been missing in action. This, despite car-sized, remotely piloted drones buzzing through the countryside.

Pete, it’s your airspace — do something! Get FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker moving. If one of these drones causes a mid-air collision or falls from the sky, innocent Americans will be injured or killed.

Photo courtesy of Chuck de Caro

As someone who had the wonderful opportunity to actually fly and control car-sized RPVs (that’s old school for unmanned aerial vehicles) in the 1990s, I can assure you that the Federal Aviation Administration was watching every minute, ready to slap a $37,000 fine on me if I violated any regulations. So where is the FAA now?

If the FAA can “see” the drones with radar, it should pass the information to Flight Aware so that every agency can determine the location of the intruders.

Meanwhile, as long as the Pentagon is looking down at its boots and kicking pebbles around, perhaps Gov. Murphy could stop whining about how he needs “more help from the federal government, we need them to be bigger, faster, stronger” and show some testicular fortitude.

Apparently, the governor doesn’t remember that he is commander in chief of the New Jersey National Guard, and, as such, he can order, under Title 32, the New Jersey Army Guard’s 1-150th Assault Helicopter Regiment to launch standing helicopter patrols around the affected airspace. That particular regiment has UH-60L Blackhawks, which can carry long-range fuel tanks for great on-station time.

Their orders should be: “Locate them, follow them home, let them land, and bring the whole world down on whatever you find.” If possible, shoot the drones down over uninhabited terrain or fly just above a drone and drop an A-22 cargo net over it, causing it to crash.

In the meantime, ground-based agencies can attempt to get audio recordings to determine the noise signature of the unknown drones for comparison to known drones. Such data could help track down the manufacturer and ultimately the operators of the aircraft.

While all this is ongoing, maybe Mayor Pete can use the last few weeks of his tenure to actually do his job.

The new administration can’t arrive soon enough.