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A drone fell out of the sky and crashed into a New Jersey homeowner’s backyard Thursday night, authorities confirmed — as the unexplained phenomena continue to rattle residents in the Garden State.
The aircraft smashed down in a residential area of Pequannock Township in Morris County around 8:45 p.m. Thursday night, according to police and dispatch audio.
Officials determined the drone was “a hobby or toy type of drone” and “not a large commercial or military grade drone,” the Pequannock Police Department told The Post.
It comes on the heels of New Jersey cops warning of possible “copcats.”
“What we think is it started as some sort of Picatinny Arsenal base surveillance drill or operation but once it exploded online this became a copycat situation,” one Garden State police chief theorized.
The US Army’s Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center is located at the Picatinny Arsenal and is one of the sites where several mystery drone sightings have been reported, which has prompted concern.
As a highly secure facility that develops and tests new bombs, guns, ammunition and warfare devices for all branches of the military, it is a target for espionage by foreign adversaries.
When The Post arrived at the crash site Thursday night, the resident was putting his bins out and declined to comment.
However, as paranoia grips the state, the report of one crashing into a homeowner’s backyard had the mayor rushing to the scene.
The Mayor of Pequannock, Ryan Herd, pulled up in a Ford Econoline work van to survey the crash for himself.
Herd told The Post “it is definitely not” one of the massive, car-sized drones that have been purportedly hovering overhead.
He said he’s “absolutely” concerned that “nobody knows whose drones are flying over us and what they’re flying over us for and where they’re taking off and landing.”
“Drones are flying over our houses, which is our private property. My family is here,” he added.
The Morris County Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the incident.
Meanwhile, there was a second report of a downed drone that hit a powerline in nearby Randolph Township less than an hour later.
The report turned out to be unfounded, The Morris County Sheriff’s Office confirmed.
In a follow-up phone call on Friday morning, Mayor Herd urged residents not to chase after, shoot at or attempt and catch any of the large drones.
“We can’t be putting up Class 1 and Class 2 drones trying to follow these drones. God forbid something happens and it crashes into the big drone, and the big drone crashes into a house and kills six people — that’s going to be a problem,” he said.
Local officials have told The Post that many sightings farther afield could be either civilian copycats flying their own drones or people mistaking planes, helicopters or satellites for UFOs.
After receiving reports of drone activity last month near Morris County, New Jersey, the Federal Aviation Administration issued temporary bans on drone flights over a golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey — owned by President-elect Donald Trump — and over Picatinny Arsenal Military Base.
The FAA says the bans were in response to requests from “federal security partners.”
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Thursday that federal investigators have been unable to verify any of the 3,000-plus reports of car-size drones patrolling the nighttime skies in recent weeks.
Pentagon officials have said they do not believe the drones are a foreign asset.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said earlier this week the aircraft are “very sophisticated,” noting that “the minute you get your eyes on them, they go dark” — but promised residents that the devices are not a threat to public safety.
Murphy said New Jerseyans not shoot them out of the sky — but welcomed federal authorities to take them down to study, NJ.com reported.