The now-not-so-current flurry of drone stories re: activity off Atlantic City or somewhere is still quite pertinent, in that many of us are aware that many questions remain unanswered.
My brash guess is that what really happened (other than an actual peak in drone presences) was a lack of preparation at the public relations departments of the FAA, the White House staff, the Coast Guard and local police agencies. I think it's actually pretty difficult to keep track of hundreds of cheap helicopter toys across the state of NJ between Philadelphia and the coast even in the least stressful of times. And our capabilities to do so are matters we might best keep a lid upon.
But what's a public relations officer to do?
If I were that officer (and I used to have a vaguely similar job somewhere), I'd simply point out that if a foreign navy were capable of sending a cruiser over this way with a Remotely Operated Vehicle hanger near the poop deck, and that the Captain of said vessel sent out the odd $50,000 drone... then might WE BE CAPABLE OF THE SAME THING?? And capable of watching said operations from an either HF wireless or even tethered observation device from an Ohio-class low rider a few hundred feet down or so?
Perhaps.
