Drones latest: Pentagon claims East Coast objects are not military as Congress gets briefing on mysterious origins
Federal agencies come together to address unidentified flying objects amid growing concern
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Your support makes all the difference.Federal officials continue to insist there is no threat to national security or public safety following the recent spate of drone sightings over New Jersey and New York, and amid growing public demands for an explanation.
“Completely understand the concerns, completely will reinforce we’re taking it seriously,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Major General Pat Ryder told reporters on Tuesday at an afternoon news conference. Ryder spoke as lawmakers attended a classified House Intelligence Committee briefing on the matter.
The drones are not assets from the Department of Defense, he noted.
Ryder’s remarks come after White House national security communications adviser John Kirby assured that drone activity along the East Coast was “lawful” and “legal.”
Earlier in the day the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) released a joint statement on the issue, saying they had not “identified anything anomalous.”
“Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones,” the federal agencies said.
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New York governor demands Biden action on mystery drones after airfield shut down: ‘This has gone too far’
Two arrested over Boston airport drone incident while Ohio military base forced to shut airspace
Two men have been arrested for operating a drone “dangerously close” to a Boston airport while a critical Ohio Air Force base was forced to shut its airspace as investigations continue into reports of hundreds of flying objects sighted over the US.
Robert Duffy, 42, and Jeremy Folcik, 32, both of Massachusetts, were arrested and charged with trespassing on Saturday evening after their unmanned aircraft system was detected above Logan International Airport, according to the Boston Police Department.
James Liddell has more.
Two arrested for Boston airport drone incident as Ohio military base shuts airspace
The incidents come after the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security said there is ‘no evidence’ the drone sightings pose a national security threat
Trump makes New Jersey drone sighting plea to White House: ‘Something strange is going on’
This is what the president-elect had to say about the matter during his wide-ranging press conference at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida yesterday.
Trump makes drone sighting plea as he claims ‘something strange is going on’
Donald Trump has claimed the government knows more than it is telling the public about the mystery drones spotted flying over New Jersey. Speaking at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago on Monday (16 December), the president-elect questioned why the Biden administration is keeping the public “in suspense”. Trump claimed: “Look, our military knows where they took off from.” When asked if he had received an intelligence briefing on the drones, Trump declined to answer. “Our military knows, and our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense,” Trump said. The president-elect added: “Something strange is going on. For some reason they don’t want to tell the people.”
How to tell the difference between a drone, a plane and a UFO
Here’s a timely guide for those worrying themselves needlessly about lights in the night sky.
How to tell the difference between a drone, a plane and a UFO
Flying objects were spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research and manufacturing facility
New Jersey Governor posts update on FBI meeting
Here’s the latest from Phil Murphy:
Mapped: All the locations of mass drone sightings in the last week
Here’s Ariana Baio with an interesting map of every location in which the drones have been spotted within the last week, with some reporting them further afield in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, California and Texas in recent days.
Mapped: All the locations of mass drone sightings in the last week
Officials have no explanation for where the drones are coming from or what their purpose is
Joe Rogan says he’s ‘genuinely concerned’ by expert’s social media video on drones
The influential bro podcaster now says he is “genuinely concerned” about the drone sightings after watching a TikTok video from John Ferguson, the CEO of Saxon Unmanned, which also alarmed the easily-alarmed Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, in which Ferguson speculates the drones could be scouting the interstates in search of a gas leak or “radioactive material”.
Rogan wrote in response to the clip: “This is the first video about these drones that has got me genuinely concerned.”
He was previously more relaxed about it all, despite pronouncing this explanation from White House official John Kirby “sus”.
House Intelligence Committee to receive classified briefing on Tuesday
Members of the the House Intelligence Committee are expected to receive a classified briefing on the mystery, CNN reports.
Democratic Representative Jim Himes, a member of the committee, told Fox News over the weekend he is frustrated with the current lack of information.
“There are a lot of us who are pretty frustrated right now,” Himes said.
“The answer ‘we don’t know’ is not a good enough answer when people are anxious, when they are nervous, and this has been true since we’ve been a species on this planet.”
“It is not the Iranians, it is not the Chinese. They aren’t Martians.”
Here’s John Bowden with more on Hines’s exasperation.
Mystery drones are not foreign – or alien – says intel panel member
Congressman questions why FAA officials have not debunked conspiracy theories
Public warned against trying to shoot down suspected drones
Law enforcement in New Jersey has been forced to warn local citizens against taking matters into their own hands and attempting to shoot down the unidentified flying objects and risking injury, according to ABC News, as the demand for answers continues to grow.
The FBI in Newark and New Jersey State Police warned on Monday that there has been an increase in pilots “being hit in the eyes with lasers because people on the ground think they see an Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).”
“We’re also concerned people will take matters into their own hands and fire a weapon at an aircraft,” FBI Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson Delgado said in a video message released on Monday.
“Not only is this act against the law, but it poses an incredible danger to the pilots and passengers on those aircraft.”
Dozens of agencies have been working to find answers and track down any operators acting “illegally or with nefarious intent”, the FBI office said.
“However, there could be dangerous and possibly deadly consequences if manned aircraft are targeted mistakenly as UAS.”
Federal agencies speak out on mystery lights over New Jersey and New York
Good morning!
The FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) have released the following joint statement seeking to downplay the drones, which is presented here in its entirety:
“There are more than one million drones lawfully registered with the FAA in the United States and there are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones lawfully in the sky on any given day. With the technology landscape evolving, we expect that number to increase over time.
“FBI has received tips of more than 5,000 reported drone sightings in the last few weeks with approximately 100 leads generated, and the federal government is supporting state and local officials in investigating these reports. Consistent with each of our unique missions and authorities, we are quickly working to prioritize and follow these leads. We have sent advanced detection technology to the region. And we have sent trained visual observers.
“Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones. We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.
“That said, we recognize the concern among many communities. We continue to support state and local authorities with advanced detection technology and support of law enforcement. We urge Congress to enact counter-UAS legislation when it reconvenes that would extend and expand existing counter-drone authorities to identify and mitigate any threat that may emerge.
“Additionally, there have been a limited number of visual sightings of drones over military facilities in New Jersey and elsewhere, including within restricted air space. Such sightings near or over DoD installations are not new. DoD takes unauthorized access over its airspace seriously and coordinates closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, as appropriate. Local commanders are actively engaged to ensure there are appropriate detection and mitigation measures in place.”
ICYMI: Many drone spottings could be cases of ‘mistaken identity,’ officials say
Some of the drone spottings across several states in the US could be cases of “mistaken identity,” with residents unknowingly reporting legally-operated small aircraft, DHS and FBI officials have said.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also said some drones could be commercial.
The FBI has received some 5,000 tips regarding drone activity, but fewer than 100 were “deemed worthy of further investigative activity.” an agency spokesperson said over the weekend.
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