Dozens of drones trailed a Coast Guard vessel off New Jersey: US lawmaker

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., opens up about the aerial systems spotted in the Garden State on'The Story.' A U.S. Coast Guard official said one of its vessels was trailed by dozens of drones off the coast of New Jersey recently, according to Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J. Smith, a guest on "The Story with Martha MacCallum" Tuesday, said he spent Monday night on the beach in Ocean County and spoke to several people, including a U.S. Coast Guard commanding officer stationed in Barnegat Light. Smith learned from the Coast Guard commander that the night before, "one of their 47-foot vessels, boats, was trailed very closely by more than a dozen of these drones." "Now, that to me, is very, very, not just suspicious, provocative, and this could be a foreign power, whether it be [Vladimir] Putin, or it could be Xi Jinping in China, or the Middle East, we can't rule any of that out," the congressman said. Photos taken in the Bay Shore section of Toms River of what appear to be large drones hovering in the area at high altitudes in New Jersey on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024.