News 12 viewers report drone sightings across LI as state police say they pose no public safety threat
News 12 viewers reported seeing the possible drones in Oyster Bay, Huntington Station, Northport, Seaford, Selden, West Babylon and Smithtown.
Top Stories
Dozens of Long Islanders contacted News 12 about drone sightings across the island in the last few days.
News 12 viewers reported seeing the possible drones in Oyster Bay, Huntington Station, Northport, Seaford, West Babylon and Smithtown.
Robert Goldberg said he noticed something odd in the skies above Selden Thursday night when out shopping.
"I saw two lights about 30 degrees off the horizon on the same exact altitude plain, and I saw, like, little flashing lights on the top of them,” he said. "What I saw was not normal."
Suffolk police received reports of at least 16 drone sightings on Thursday.
The sightings on Long Island come after reports of drones in the skies over New Jersey last week. It’s something Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman says they're closely monitoring.
New York State Police also received reports of drone sightings in the last 24 hours, but say in a post, “We have no evidence at this point that any of the reported sightings pose a public safety threat.”
Farmingdale State College Associate Professor of Aviation Dr. Michael Canders says they teach courses on proper drone usage. He says while the drones could pose security threats, there's a greater safety risk associated with the drones for an area with an already busy airspace like Long Island.
"It needs to be, I would say, resolved with some sense of urgency,” he said. "These can be very, very hazardous, even a relatively small one impacting an aircraft, could have some serious, severe consequences."
State police ask New Yorkers to report sightings via email with time, date, locations and any pictures or video to crimetip@troopers.ny.gov.
