The Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday that incidents of people pointing lasers at airplanes in New Jersey have soared since people began reporting sightings of drones.
The FAA said reports are up 269% to 59 in the first half of December, compared with eight in the same period last year. Aiming a laser at an aircraft is a serious safety issue and a violation of federal law. US agencies have said the spike in drone sightings does not pose national security risks and appears to be mostly aircraft, stars, or hobbyist drones.