Drone crashes into NJ homeowners backyard as panic over mystery sightings grips state

A drone fell out of the sky and crashed into a New Jersey homeowner’s backyard Thursday night, authorities confirmed — as the unexplained phenomena continue to rattle residents in the Garden State.The aircraft smashed down in a residential area of Pequannock Township in Morris County around 8:45 p.m.Thursday, according to police and dispatch audio.Officials determined the craft was “a hobby or toy type of drone” and “not a large commercial or military grade drone,” the Pequannock Police Department told The Post.It comes on the heels of New Jersey cops warning of possible “copycats.”“What we think is it started as some sort of Picatinny Arsenal base surveillance drill or operation but once it exploded online, this became a copycat situation,” one Garden State police chief theorized.The US Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center is located at the Picatinny Arsenal and is one of the sites where several mystery drone sightings have been reported, which has prompted concern.As a highly secure facility that develops and tests new bombs, guns, ammunition and warfare devices for all branches of the military, it is a target for espionage by foreign adversaries.When The Post arrived at the crash site Thursday night, the resident was putting his trash cans out and declined to comment.However, as paranoia grips the state, the report of one crashing into a homeowner’s backyard had the mayor rushing to the scene.

The mayor of Pequannock, Ryan Herd, pulled up in a Ford Econoline work van to survey the crash scene for himself. Herd told The Post “it is definitely not” one of the massive, car-size drones that purportedly have been hovering overhead.He said he’s “absolutely” concerned that “nobody knows whose drones are flying over us and what they’re flying over us for and where they’re taking off and landing.”“Drones are flying over our houses, which is our private property.My family is here,” he added.The Mo...