State Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Scotrun, plans to introduce a resolution asking the federal government to empower state governments with the authority to respond when drones are a possible threat while also asking the federal government to implement stronger response measures and public transparency to these potential threats. Some drone sightings have been reported in Pennsylvania, mainly near Philadelphia. Brown has also sent a letter to the FAA outlining her concerns.

“Current federal regulations tie the hands of state and local governments, preventing them from taking immediate action when drones possibly threaten the safety and privacy of our communities,” Brown wrote in her co-sponsorship memorandum. “This resolution is a necessary step to empower states to respond swiftly and decisively to these threats.”

The issue came back to public view earlier this week when U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., called for mysterious drones spotted flying at night over sensitive areas in New Jersey and other parts of the Mid-Atlantic region to be “shot down, if necessary,” even as it remains unclear who owns the unmanned aircraft.

“We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases,” Blumenthal said Thursday, as concerns about the drones spread across Capitol Hill, according to the Associated Press.

State Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Scotrun, is pictured speaking during a meeting this summer.

The AP reported people in the New York region are also concerned that the drones may be sharing airspace with commercial airlines, Blumenthal said, demanding more transparency from the Biden administration. The White House said Thursday that a review of the reported sightings shows that many of them are actually manned aircraft being flown lawfully. White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said there were no reported sightings in any restricted airspace. He said the U.S. Coast Guard has not uncovered any foreign involvement from coastal vessels.

“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus,” Kirby said, echoing statements from the Pentagon and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy.

Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh has said they are not U.S. military drones.

John Duesler, president of the Pennsylvania Drone Association, said witnesses may be confused about what they are seeing, especially in the dark, and noted it’s hard to know the size of the drones or how close they might be.

“There are certainly big drones, such as agricultural drones, but typically they are not the type you see flying around in urban or suburban spaces,” Duesler said Thursday to the AP.

Since mid-November New Jersey has documented more than 3,000 sightings of unidentified drones, some as large as cars, operating near military bases, private residences, and other sensitive locations. Pennsylvania shares a border with New Jersey, and Brown’s district has been among those where sightings have been reported.

“This resolution comes amid growing frustration with the federal government’s handling of drone-related incidents, which began with the 2023 Chinese spy balloon incident, when a high-altitude balloon originating from China traversed the continental United States for eight days – entering from Alaska before being shot down off the coast of South Carolina,” Brown said. “It is time to allow state governments to respond swiftly and decisively in these instances.”

Duesler said the drones — and those flying them — likely cannot evade detection because they leave a radio frequency footprint. Once that frequency is discovered then it is possible to figure out who was flying the drones, what type of drones were being flown and who was flying them. But, Duesler told the AP, government agencies should come out with more information.

“I hope (the government agencies) will come out with more information about this to ease our fears. But this could just be the acts of rogue drone operators, it’s not an ‘invasion’ as some reports have called it,” Duesler said. “I am concerned about this but not alarmed by it.”