"We get, on average, some 2,000-plus drone flights detected by our experts and our software every week. So, there are a lot of drones in the sky," said NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Counterterrorism and Intelligence Rebecca Weiner.
Drone detection systems are already in use all over New York City, and have been for several years now.
"We have gotten very good at working with partners, whether it's federal, state and local partners with whom we've been working extensively on this recent set of incidents, but also with private sector entities who are reporting to us through their own drone detection, what they're seeing," Weiner said.
A drone detection system can trace the origin, destination, make, model and registration to identify pilots.
On Sunday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the state will receive a similar system to identify the uptick in drone sightings, but the uptick is the result of drone hobbyists launching their devices to find the mystery drones, which has created a domino effect.
"Well, in a couple of ways. First of all, it can create the public safety threat that it is trying to identify," Weiner said. "When you've got all these people who are trying to see what is going on. I'll fly my own drone up there, then that overwhelms the system with noise."
Rob D'Amico is the former unit chief for the FBI's counter drone unit. He attempted to address some of the unnerving hysteria that has taken over the night skies.
"It has caused so much chaos that if a drone company was doing this, that they would have maybe not openly, but gone back to certain folks that they're dealing with in the industry, saying, wait a second, this is us. We're doing this," D'Amico said.
Like Hochul said, D'Amico says some reasons why more people are seeing drones at night is because drone enthusiasts are launching to find the mystery drones, creating a domino effect.
"I think in the beginning, there may be some drones flying legally over areas and people were kind of getting alert to them and it started getting people's attention," he said. "The sky is confusing because of the ability to judge distance and lights. So, I started learning early on from the guys that all these lights up there are not drones."
While drone hobbyist looking for mystery drones and mis-sightings may be a big part of the uptick reports, people are in fact, now seeing drones at night, and that's because in September 2023, the FAA changed the regulations, allowing for nighttime drone use for the first time, provided the operator had been officially trained - and had anti-collision for three miles.
Operators are also required to install a remote ID, but the FAA can't track who complies, and only the DOJ, Secret Service and Homeland Security are allowed to intercept the frequency to bring those drones down.
"This is very serious to us," Mayor Eric Adams said. "We want to make sure our skies are protected. We don't want anyone using drones that is going to be harmful to sensitive locations and sensitive New Yorkers."
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