Drone Sightings Reported In Greenwich, Camillo Issues Statement

GREENWICH, CT — The mysterious drones that have appeared up and down the East Coast have now been spotted in Greenwich, according to First Selectman Fred Camillo, who on Wednesday issued a statement calling for more transparency from the federal government.

"Like many others, I have witnessed several drones in the sky the past few nights over Greenwich. I have been in touch with our federal and state officials with my questions and concerns about this, including Gov. Ned Lamont and Sen. Richard Blumenthal," Camillo said.

"Gov. Lamont has expressed his confidence to me that there is nothing to be overly concerned about. Sen. Blumenthal and I have also communicated on this and will continue to be in touch. We had planned to meet in person, but he is currently in Washington and is continuing to ask questions about this. I share his frustration with the lack of clarity and communication coming from the Biden administration."

Camillo said he's asking for "clarity" from the Biden administration regarding the drones.

"I, like many residents, have questions and the lack of communication from the President is disappointing," Camillo added. "While I remain confident in the statements that some of our elected officials have made that there truly is nothing to be worried about, I will continue to keep in contact with them and I will continue pushing for the explanation that we all are seeking. Without information and transparency from President Biden, concerns and speculation will only grow."

Drones began to appear across New Jersey about a month ago and they've since been seen in other states. Locally, drone sightings have been reported in Stamford, Fairfield and other parts of Connecticut in recent days, as well as nearby Westchester County.

Greenwich police Lt. Patrick Smyth told Patch the department has received around 12-20 calls from residents in recent weeks about drone sightings in town.

Residents can report suspicious drone activity on the state of Connecticut website, and should only call police in emergency situations.

In a joint statement released Tuesday, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said they've received some 5,000 tips about the mysterious aircraft and followed up on more than 100 leads with advanced detection technologies and trained observers.

"Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include 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," the agencies said. "We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast."

The FBI and Homeland Security did not explain why, if the sightings are just regular private and commercial drones and planes, there has been such a marked increase in the sightings.

The federal agencies said they still "recognize the concern" the public has expressed regarding the drones, and urged Congress to pass "counter-UAS (unmanned aircraft systems)" legislation immediately. They advised new legislation to "extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge."

Connecticut state Sen. Tony Hwang has also requested the federal government give the states authority to deal with the drones directly, calling them a national security and public safety risk.

"It's unacceptable," Hwang said during a news conference on Monday. "The fact that we've had sightings last Thursday, and that weeks have gone by since sightings in New York and New Jersey, but we have not gotten an explanation as to who and what these drones are. It's a breakdown of transparency, trusted communications and answers."

— Justin Heinze and Alfred Branch, Patch Staff, contributed to this report.