Mayor Mandates Hazmat Suits for Handling Downed Drones

Belleville, New Jersey, Mayor Michael Melham has issued strict orders for first responders to don HAZMAT suits and contact the bomb squad if any of the mysterious drones reportedly hovering over New Jersey skies fall to the ground.

Residents across several New Jersey counties have observed large drones at night since the week before Thanksgiving, as reported by The Bergen Record.

During an appearance on Fox News' The Faulkner Focus on Friday, Mayor Melham shared these directives, stating that the Office of Emergency Management had briefed him shortly before his interview with Harris Faulkner.

“We now have guidance coming from the state, and the guidance does say two different things,” Melham explained. “First of all, if there is a downed drone in our vicinity, we are immediately to call the bomb squad of our county.”

He added, “And second, our fire department has been instructed to make sure they wear hazmat suits.”

When Faulkner inquired whether a downed drone would be considered a potential homeland attack, Melham confirmed, “That is correct, because they’re not quite sure if there’s a payload or not, and that’s what we were told during our briefing on Wednesday.” This briefing, deemed “unprecedented,” was attended by 200 state mayors earlier in the week.

Melham, who has witnessed the drones personally, also addressed concerns about the federal government’s lack of response to the situation.

“We’re being told that people in New Jersey must be crazy, that they’re only seeing small aircraft, and that’s just not the case,” he said. “If you’re on the ground in New Jersey, my residents are concerned, and they’re quite alarmed because they have no idea what’s hovering over their houses.”

The mayor revealed that during the Wednesday briefing, officials advised against residents attempting to shoot down the drones.

“These drones are hovering over our critical infrastructure. Now, that’s interesting because they’re not doing any harm; they’re just hovering over them. We’re also told that there’s no credible threat.”

Melham expressed skepticism, saying, “When you start putting things together that they’re telling us: Critical infrastructure, no credible threat, they’re unwilling to shoot them down, they’re unwilling to do a temporary ban — and we can see them, that they have lights on them, so something’s not adding up here.

“And, it sounds like it might very well be our highest level of government. It might be government assets that are being deployed as a counter measure,” he speculated.