White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said Thursday that many of the drone sightings in New Jersey are actually lawfully operated manned aircraft, and that they pose no national security or public threat.
The Pentagon said Wednesday that it is not U.S. military drones that New Jerseyans have been seeing over their skies, and that it does not appear to be craft from a foreign country or entity.
During a press briefing, Kirby said that neither the White House, nor state and local law enforcement, have been able to corroborate “any of the reported visual sightings” — despite using “very sophisticated electronic detection technologies.”
“To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully,” Kirby said.
That statement was repeated verbatim in a joint press release from the FBI and Department of Homeland Security released later Thursday.
Spokespersons for Gov. Murphy and New Jersey State Police did not respond to requests for comment about Kirby’s remarks.
An incredulous Assemblyman Paul Kanitra questioned Kirby’s remarks.
“That goes directly against what the federal Department of Homeland Security told us in the briefing Wednesday,” said Kanitra, R-Ocean. “I couldn’t possibly understand what their motivation is to try and diminish this.”
Kirby’s comments come a day after State Police briefed New Jersey lawmakers, saying that authorities still don’t know where the mystery drones are coming from, who’s operating them, or where they are taking off or landing from.
Lawmakers were also told that investigators have been unable to electronically detect the drones, which were first spotted over New Jersey on Nov. 18 and have been spotted every night since, with anywhere from four to 180 sightings each night.
The large drones, which are 6 feet in diameter, only fly at night, from dusk to 11 p.m., lawmakers said.
New Jersey Assemblyman Greg Myhre, R-Ocean, was also skeptical of Kirby’s remarks.
“He’s either not getting very good information, or he’s not sharing what he knows,” Myhre said.
He noted that during the briefing Wednesday, State Police Superintendent Pat Callahan said he had a State Police helicopter hovering over one of the airborne six-foot drones.
Kanitra added that Callahan said that as soon as the helicopter was over the craft, the drone turned its lights off, prompting the decision to have the helicopter disengage because they determined it was not safe.
”Why would they call us all to an in-person meeting if it’s nothing” Myhre said. “There’s certainly more to it. Listen, I hope it’s no big deal, but the federal government needs to be more truthful.”
Kanitra recanted all of the specifics that officials told lawmakers about what made the drones unique.
For example, they noted that these drone flights were coordinated and flew in swarms, and were airborne for 6 to 7 hours — which officials said was “extraordinary” battery life, Kanitra said.
In addition, the federal government’s most sophisticated radar — the electro-optical infrared camera — could not detect the drones. Normally, it could detect any drone one to two miles out, and 10 miles for larger craft.
“If it was ours or our government’s, we think we’d know,” Kanitra recounted one official saying.
During the briefing, federal Homeland Security officials also confirmed that unmanned craft flew over Naval Weapons Station Earle, Picatinny Arsenal, and the National Guard, Kanitra said.
The mystery of the unidentified drones has gripped the public. On Tuesday, federal officials admitted during a congressional hearing that despite repeated assurances from Murphy and other public officials, they can’t say definitively whether the drones pose a threat.
More than a dozen drones were reported to have followed a 47-foot Coast Guard boat Sunday night, while law enforcement tracked another 50 drones coming toward land from the ocean at Island Beach State Park, Rep. Chris Smith said.
Kanitra said that officials confirmed the Coast Guard story at the Wednesday briefing, that the drones trailed and harassed the crew, citing it as another reason to doubt Kirby’s statement
“Do they think the Coast Guard is going to mistake 12 to 14 drones for planes? Are they trying to say Coasties don’t know what planes look like?” Kanitra asked.
Kirby repeated Thursday that there was no known national security or public safety threat from the drones, and “importantly, there are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace.”
New Jersey has witnessed an alarming number of drones flying overhead since Nov. 18. There have been reports of them hovering over military installations, at least one reservoir and critical infrastructure. But local, state and federal officials have no answers about their origins.
Kirby added that the United States Coast Guard is providing support to the state of New Jersey, and “has confirmed that there is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement from coastal vessels.”
That was in response to statements made Wednesday by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-Ocean, who suggested “these drones could be the work of foreign adversaries, specifically Iran …We also know there is an Iranian drone mothership that is missing from port in Iran, with a timeline matching the emergence of these drones.”
In a press briefing Wednesday, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh pushed back against Van Drew’s remarks.
“There is not any truth to that,” Singh said. “There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones toward the United States.”
Attempts to reach Van Drew on Thursday were not successful.
In her press conference, Singh confirmed “these are not U.S. military drones. … What our initial assessment here is that these are not drones or activities coming from a foreign entity or adversary.”
Singh said that a decision on whether to shoot a drone down, as state and federal officials have demanded, is up to state and local officials.
“That’s a decision for local law enforcement,” Singh said. “If a drone or, you know, any activity is a threat to military installations, they always have the right for self-defense.”
To date, the drones have not posed a threat to the military bases, she said. “So they didn’t feel the need to engage,” Singh said.
When asked to clarify the military’s role, a spokesperson for U.S. Northern Command said they “conducted a deliberate analysis of the events, in consultation with other military organizations and interagency partners,” but has not been requested to assist with the drone sightings.
Should additional assistance be required, U.S. Northern Command “will continue to assess further information and is prepared to respond when asked or should the situation escalate to threaten any (Department of Defense) installations,” the spokesperson said.
2024-12-13 02:22:44
