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3 cockpits found on N.J. property

MIDDLETOWN, N.J. — Navy officials are trying to determine how three jetfighter cockpits ended up in private hands in Middletown.

Officials loaded the cockpits from two F-14s and an F-18 on a truck and took them back to Weapons Station Earle on Monday. They were on a property off Apple Farm Road.

Investigators didn’t say who had them or know why they did not go through the normal demilitarization process in which they’re converted to simulators or sold for scrap.

Special Agent Terry O’Connor of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service said the cockpits no longer contained weapons control systems or other sensitive material.