Apparent drone sightings over New Jersey and New York are sparking concern among government leaders. Gov. Kathy Hochul announced over the weekend that drone detection technology would be deployed in the Empire State.

“We just need to acknowledge that just because we see a drone does not mean it’s necessarily doing something nefarious,” said Keith Perry of Hudson Valley Drones. “I don’t want to downplay what people are seeing or what they think they’re seeing, and acknowledge there certainly could be and probably are drone sightings.”

While Perry couldn't say for certain what the apparent drone sightings are related to, he said to the untrained eye, it’s easy to confuse an unmanned aircraft with what could be a manned aircraft in the sky.

“It’s notoriously hard to gauge size. It's notoriously hard to gauge what it is and at night, our depth perception isn’t very good,” Perry explained. “Our eyes can play tricks on us.”

Regardless, the reported activity has garnered the attention of leaders on the local, state and federal levels after runways at Stewart International Airport in Newburgh were closed last week due an apparent drone sighting.

“I’ve been briefed by the highest authorities,” U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters Monday. “It’s not military. They don’t think it’s foreign and they don’t think it’s a danger. But they don’t yet know what it is.”

Schumer is advocating to expand surveying capabilities to include local authorities.

“I think that will help,” he said. “Even our federal authorities know that they need some local help because there are so many drones made in so many different places.”

Perry said there are several options available when it comes to drone detection.

“The one that we work with detects the remote ID signal being transmitted from a drone, which is basically a digital license plate,” he explained. “That transmits the serial number, the heading altitude and even the operator’s location.”

Schumer said at least one detection system has been deployed between New York and New Jersey. It’s from Robin Radar Systems, and has 360 degrees of radar capability.