LOS ANGELES () — After a large number of mysterious drones were spotted on the East Coast and even in Southern California, lawmakers are raising the alarm and many are calling for stricter rules about who can fly the unmanned aircraft.
Alexis McClellan sent Eyewitness News video of an object over her home. It’s unclear from the footage what the object is.
“It started way over there, like right there,” McClellan’s husband Jason Porras said pointing to the sky. “Then it went all the way across level, and it kept going. Then when it got to about right here it stopped.” Is it a drone?
There have been several sightings on the East Coast and communities are on edge. Lawmakers are pushing federal officials for more information.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday indicated a rule change may be the reason why there have been more drone sightings at night.
“In September of 2023, the Federal Aviation Administration, the FAA, changed the rules so that drones could fly at night,” Mayorkas said on News’ This Week. “And that may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before.”
Mayorkas said there are more than 800,000 drones registered in the U.S. and about 8,000 are flown every day.
Porras is worried about privacy and safety.
“Sometimes we’ll see small drones flying around for no reason. We’re like, ‘OK, why are these people flying these drones?” Porras wonders.
The FAA regulates the use of drones. Its website has a section which shows the aircraft has to be registered. There are restrictions about flying them in certain areas, such as airports, but not over a house.
“Generally speaking, you don’t have a right of privacy, and you don’t have control over the airspace that is directly above your house,” aviation attorney Timothy Loranger said.
But there is a law in California that does protect you.
“California does have laws that say that drone operators cannot film people without their permission, and so that’s helpful in some respects,” Loranger told Eyewitness News.
If a drone is spotted over your house don’t try to knock it down, Loranger said.
“You do not have a right to interfere with the flight of aircraft, and throwing a rock, or shooting down a drone or doing something that interferes with it is against the law,” Loranger said. “You could be prosecuted for that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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