Drones latest: Biden insists flying objects pose ‘no danger’ as FBI issues urgent firearm and laser warning
The bureau has warned New Jersey residents to avoid shooting down or shining lasers at suspect unmanned aircraft systems after complaints from pilots
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Your support makes all the difference.President Joe Biden insisted that there is “no sense of danger” surrounding the mysterious spate of drone sightings across the US.
“Nothing nefarious apparently, but they’re checking it all out,” he told reporters at the White House on Tuesday amid growing public demands for an explanation. “We’re following this closely, but so far no sense of danger.”
The FBI also issued a warning to New Jersey residents, urging them not to shoot down or shine lasers at suspected drones flying overhead. The bureau, along with state police, noted an increase of pilots being hit in the eyes with lasers, after those on the ground have mistaken planes for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS’s).
“There is also a concern with people possibly firing weapons at what they believe to be a UAS,” the agency added in a statement.
Members of Congress were briefed on the potential origins of the drones in a classified House Intelligence Committee meeting on Tuesday by Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Major General Pat Ryder.
Officials continue to brush off claims that the UAS’s are linked with anything more clandestine, with Ryder telling reporters: “Completely understand the concerns, completely will reinforce we’re taking it seriously.”
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How to tell the difference between a drone, a plane and a UFO
Mapped: All the locations of mass drone sightings in the last week
Monmouth County sheriff identifies current concerns about drones over New Jersey
“The sum concern are the visual confirmed sights by military and first responders,” Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden told CBS Mornings in a clip that aired on Wednesday.
“The bigger concern over that is [that] we don’t have any identification on any of it,” he added.
GOP congressman pins drone ‘hysteria’ on White House
Iowa Republican Rep. Zach Nunn is pinning drone “hysteria” on the Biden administration.
“I think that there’s a real hysteria around here, but I blame that right back on the White House,” he told ABC News.
“At this point, we need resolution and, clearly, we need leadership coming out of the White House to provide real answers that are clear, that are transparent and that are responsible for folks...” Nunn, who serves as a colonel in the Air Force Reserves, said.
Mapped: All the locations of mass drone sightings in the last week
Residents of New Jersey were confused and worried when a group of mysterious drones began to be seen flying in the skies above the state starting late last month. Now residents in New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Florida, California and other states are experiencing the same thing.
Over the last few weeks, local, state and federal law enforcement officials in a string of states have been collecting and investigating reports of unexplained drone sightings
A cluster of drones, seemingly commercial grade, has consistently emerged over communities and even some restricted airspaces after sunset – first in northern New Jersey and now across the country.
Ariana Baio has the story.
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
House Speaker Mike Johnson on government’s response to drones: ‘People are not buying the answers'
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Wednesday that the Biden administration is not providing lawmakers with answers about the origin of drones recently spotted in the Northeast.
“Look, I’m the speaker of the House. I have the exact same frustrations that you do and all of us do. We don’t have the answers. The administration is not providing them,” Johnson told Fox News.
“They just say ‘don’t worry about it, it’s not foreign entities, there’s not a vessel offshore doing this, and they’re not collecting any data.’ OK, then what is it?” Johnson said.
“You heard Mayorkas, who no one believes, we impeached him in the House as you know, the DHS secretary, he said in an interview a couple days ago, well because they changed the regulations to allow drones to fly at night, that’s why everybody’s seeing them now. They’ve always been there. I mean, look, people are not buying the answers,” Johnson said.
Shooting drones could be dangerous, expert warns
Shooting down drones seen across the US could come with consequences.
“If people start shooting, things have to come down,” Jeffrey Wells, a visiting fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University, told The Hill.
Wells told the outlet that it was vital for the nation to address gaps between local officials and the federal government.
“Making those kind of more direct feeds to local government to inform citizens, that over your neighborhood really those are airplanes, those are helicopters, those are things that are being operated by your local utility company,” he said.
Senior official: Pentagon has been too passive in face of drones over military installations
Two senior officials are hitting the nation’s response to the drones flying over US military installations.
One official told USA TODAY that the response from the Pentagon had been too passive.
The official said that unidentified drones should be zapped and put in a bag.
NJ mayor suggests drones are looking for missing radioactive material - pushing conspiracy theory about their origins
NJ mayor suggests drones are looking for missing radioactive material
Belleville Mayor Michael Melham has theorized that the lights people have been seeing above Essex County are ‘looking for something’
FAA posts updated guidance on drones - including this important fact
Federal officials are warning residents not to shoot down drones after sightings across the Northeast.
In updated guidance, the Federal Aviation Administration noted that it’s illegal under federal law to shoot at an aircraft.
“A private citizen shooting at any aircraft – including unmanned aircraft – poses a significant safety hazard. An unmanned aircraft hit by gunfire could crash, causing damage to persons or property on the ground, or it could collide with other objects in the air,” the agency warned. “Shooting at an unmanned aircraft could result in a civil penalty from the FAA and/or criminal charges from federal, state or local law enforcement.”
Mapped: Here’s where drones have been spotted in the last week
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
ICYMI: FBI warns public against using lasers and 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 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.”
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