During an interview with ABC News on Monday, New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin (D) reacted to suggestions that the uptick in reported drone sightings in the state is due to people not being familiar with air traffic by stating that, in the part of New Jersey he lives in, “We’re really used to air traffic over our heads” due to the proximity to busy airports and “there is something significantly different” and “part of it is, we’re hearing from people in parts of the state that routinely don’t have that same kind of air traffic in the northwest part of the state and the southern parts of the state.”
Coughlin said, “I heard your colleague talking about how we’re not — we may not be used to things in the air. The truth of the matter is, I live in the central part of the state, and it’s — I live not far from Newark Airport and between Newark and Kennedy and JFK, three of the busiest airports in the world. We’re really used to air traffic over our heads. And so, it hasn’t — there is something significantly different that is causing people to be — part of it is, we’re hearing from people in parts of the state that routinely don’t have that same kind of air traffic in the northwest part of the state and the southern parts of the state. So, it’s all over.”
Coughlin further stated that it could just be legal drones that are allowed to be in the air.
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