Drones or SUAVs, small unmanned aerial vehicles.
Richard Newsted | Moments | Getty Images
The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday added another temporary ban on drone flights across 30 areas across New York.
The announcement comes after the FAA issued its first temporary drone ban in 22 areas of New Jersey on Wednesday following complaints about strange and often bright flying objects in the night sky.
“At the request of federal security partners, the FAA has issued 22 Temporary Flight Restrictions (TFRs) prohibiting drone flights over New Jersey’s critical infrastructure,” the FAA said in a statement to CNBC on Thursday. said.
The new TFR will last until January 19 and cover much of southern New York and Long Island, including all five New York City boroughs. New York Governor Kathy Hochul had called for a ban.
The initial ban covers parts of central and northern New Jersey, including Elizabeth, Camden and Jersey City, and will last until Jan. 17. The FAA also added bans to two other areas across the Garden State: Evesham and Bedminster.
New Jersey residents have reported seeing unexplained drones flying through the air for weeks, sparking criticism from local officials and law enforcement, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security. argued that institutions lacked sufficient transparency to residents.
The FBI and DHS said last week that they had seen “no evidence” that drone sightings “posed a threat to national security or public safety.” They added that there was no evidence of “foreign ties” to the drones. On Saturday, authorities announced that they had found that “many reported drone sightings are actually manned aircraft that are mistaken for drones.”
“At this time, we do not believe that criminal activity is involved, there is a national security threat, there is a specific public safety threat, or that a malicious foreign actor is involved with these drones. No basis has been determined,” a Department of Homeland Security official said. he said over the weekend.
Meanwhile, drone stocks rose this week. Palantir announced a partnership with red cat holdingscoupled with a growing interest in mysterious sightings. Shares of Red Cat, a Puerto Rico-based drone provider, rose about 10% on Thursday.