...
By Sonam Sheth
Evening Politics Editor
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
What's New
The White House on Monday put out its most detailed statement yet on a flurry of drone sightings that have been reported across the Northeast in recent weeks.
"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 even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones," John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesperson, told reporters Monday.
Read More on Politics
"We have not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the Northeast," he added. "The work continues."
...
Why It Matters
Federal and local officials have been confounded over reports of drone sightings in New Jersey and other parts of the Northeast that started about a month ago.
Kirby's statement on Monday appeared to shed the most light on the issue to date, but it also made clear that officials are still examining it and more details about the aircraft could spill out in the coming weeks.
What To Know
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI released a joint statement last week saying they had no indication "at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus."
They added, however, that "while there is no known malicious activity occurring in New Jersey, the reported sightings there do...highlight the insufficiency of current authorities."
President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on the drone sightings last week, without evidence, that the Biden administration was withholding information from the public.
Trump reiterated his comments on Monday, telling reporters at Mar-a-Lago that if a foreign adversary were responsible for the drone activity, the White House would have "blasted" out the news.
Even if they were late, they'd blast it," he said. "Something strange is going on. For some reason, they don't want to tell the people."
The mysterious drones were initially spotted over New Jersey last month. But in the weeks since, residents in Ohio, Florida, Massachusetts, California, Pennsylvania and New York have also reported seeing drones flying overhead.
What People Are Saying
Representative Mikie Sherrill, who is running in the New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial primary race: "Right now, our leaders need to be acting in accordance with a unified plan, and speaking with one voice in order to protect our national security, keep New Jerseyans safe, and ensure state and local authorities have the information and tools they need to take action."
Representative Josh Gottheimer, another Democrat running in the primary race, said in a statement last week: "New Jersey cannot become the wild west for drone activity — and Americans shouldn't have to worry about what's flying overhead, especially as technology like AI advances at an unprecedented clip."
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on ABC's This Week: "There's no question that people are seeing drones. And I want to assure the public that we, in the federal government, have deployed additional resources, personnel, technology, to assist the New Jersey State Police in addressing the drone sightings."
What Comes Next
After Kirby put out Monday's update, the FBI and New Jersey State Police released a statement warning the public against pointing lasers at manned aircraft or shooting down suspected unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).
"FBI Newark and New Jersey State Police want to warn the public about an increase in pilots of manned aircraft being hit in the eyes with lasers because people on the ground think they see" a UAS, the statement said. "There is also a concern with people possibly firing weapons at what they believe to be a UAS but could be a manned aircraft."
The statement added that "there could be dangerous and possibly deadly consequences if manned aircraft are targeted mistakenly as UAS."
Update 12/16/24 6:23 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines