Chris Christie says he saw drone above his home amid reports of strange lights in NJ, other states

Add former Gov. Chris Christie to the list of New Jersey residents reporting mysterious "drone" sightings outside of their homes.

As reports of strange lights seen in the sky in New Jersey and other Northeast states have sparked questions and concerns across the country, Christie said during an interview Sunday on ABC's "This Week," he believes he saw a drone outside his own home last week.

"That was a drone over my house, and I’ve never seen anything like that before and I’ve been living at that house for 30 years," Christie said.

The sightings have raised concerns about potential public safety threats, with Christie and others saying more needs to be done to investigate. Christie said he wants the state police to have authority to "bring those drones down and find out why they're doing what they're doing."

“You can see why people are concerned, and it’s a lack of communication from the government at the federal and state level that’s at fault here," Christie said.

Federal authorities have tried to reassure Americans that the objects don’t appear to be operating nefariously. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have said such sightings mostly appear to be not drones at all.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Majorkas also said on ABC's "This Week" that the federal government is helping the New Jersey State Police investigate the drone issue.

“I want to assure the American public we are on it. We are working in close coordination with state and local authorities," Majorkas said.

Federal authorities have found no evidence of foreign involvement in the drone flights, Majorkas said.

While acknowledging concerns about the drones, Majorkas noted there are more than one million registered in the United States and thousands flying every day, implying such activity is normal and frequent. He also noted that the Federal Aviation Administration changed the rules in 2023 so drones can fly at night.

Majorkas said some of the sightings are actually manned aircraft but added "there's no question that drones are being sighted."

Christie noted that drones have become an important part of commerce, law enforcement and other areas, adding: “We need to be able to operate in a safe way and we’re not doing that."

President-elect Donald Trump joined the drone conversation with a recent social media post, calling on the government needs to give more information.

"Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!" Trump wrote.

Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chris Christie saw drones above his NJ home amid mysterious reports