Sag Harbor Village police spotted what appeared to be 12 drones flying at different altitudes over the Lance Cpl. Jordan Haerter Bridge last Thursday evening, after a caller reported seeing around seven of them that same night.
After observing the drones themselves, police contacted Suffolk County, which confirmed receipt of the reports. Police then canvassed the waterways to investigate, before eventually documenting the case.
This incident was part of a series of three reports involving drones during a three-day span from the evening of Dec. 25 to Friday night. Each of them were called in by David Wind. The first and third incidents were not confirmed by police, but they documented them nonetheless.
The sighting came on the heels of a spate of reports of unusual drone activity beginning on Nov. 13 in New Jersey. Since then people have reported seeing multiple drones flying and hovering over areas in neighboring states, including New York.
In a press release issued on Dec. 16, the Department of Homeland Security said that the F.B.I. had “received tips of more than 5,000 reported drone sightings in the last few weeks with approximately 100 leads generated. . . . We have sent advanced detection technology to the region. And we have sent trained visual observers.” Federal agencies concluded that the sightings were “a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.” Nonetheless, theories to the contrary abounded.
“In light of the recent drone sightings throughout the East Coast, Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine and the Suffolk County Police Department are working closely together along with our state and federal law enforcement partners to monitor the situation in real-time,” Mr. Romaine said in a statement about Suffolk drone reports on Dec. 16.
Responding to the situation on Dec. 19, Gov. Kathy Hochul said the state had been monitoring reports and was in contact with federal authorities. “While we have not detected any public safety or national security threats, we will continue aggressively monitoring the situation as we call on Congress to pass legislation to give states and local law enforcement the authority and resources they need to manage this evolving technology,” the governor said in a statement.