The Biden administration has responded to reported drone sightings over New Jersey and other states with assurances that there’s no evidence of “malicious intent,” with a National Security Council official signaling that federal entities think the brouhaha has been much ado about nothing — even as top Democrats demand answers.
Thousands of tips about mysterious flying objects over the Garden State and neighboring states had produced about 100 credible leads as of Saturday, administration officials told reporters on a briefing call. The officials repeatedly stressed that multiple federal departments and agencies had not detected any evidence of criminal intent, public safety risks or national security implications.
In fact, the NSC official poured cold water on many of the phoned-in tips and myriad social media anecdotes of drones as large as school buses buzzing around and hovering over New Jersey residential areas.
“We have not been able to corroborate the reported visual sightings using sophisticated electronic detection technologies provided by federal authorities. And, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully,” the NSC official told CQ Roll Call.
“At this time, we do not have indication based on the investigation thus far that these reported sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus,” the official said via email. “The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are actively investigating these sightings and working closely with state and local law enforcement to provide resources, using numerous detection methods, to better understand their origin and intentions.”
The official referred to “many” of the sightings as manned aircraft mistaken for remotely piloted drones. But that would suggest that drones could be included among the remaining sightings. The Biden administration has yet to explain why those aircraft are in the air and who is operating them.
Administration officials have also not yet explained how they have ruled out possible criminal intent, public safety risks and national security implications when they remain stumped about the operators of the aircraft.
Asked to explain the metric used to draw such conclusions, the NSC official did not respond to a follow-up email.
“To date, we have no intelligence or observations that would indicate that they were aligned with a foreign actor or that they had malicious intent,” a Defense Department official told reporters on the weekend call. “But I’ve just got to simply tell you, we don’t know. We have not been able to locate or identify the operators or the points of origin.”
Meanwhile, a senior administration official echoed the NSC official in suggesting that citizen tipsters have been mistaken about what they are seeing.
“At this point, we have not identified any basis for believing that … these drones, that there’s any criminal activity involved, that there’s any national security threat, that there’s any particular public safety threat, or that there’s a malicious foreign actor involved in these drones,” the senior administration official said.
“That said, as you’ve heard from all of the experts on this call, all of the departments and agencies are taking this incredibly seriously and investigating every possible lead and working to try to understand what these sightings are,” the official added.
The situation has put the Biden administration in yet another tricky political spot. The New York-New Jersey metro area is heavily represented by Democrats, who have been hearing from concerned, panicked and angry constituents about the mysterious activities they say are happening above them. Social media is rife with conspiracy theories, some accusing the administration of withholding information about exactly what is happening.
Among the region’s Democrats pressing the administration for more information is Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York.
In a Sunday letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Schumer pushed for the department to deploy more “drone-specific radar” systems, infrared cameras and other detection equipment.
“In addition, these sightings have exposed the federal government’s limitations when it comes to the authorities for protecting against the illicit use of UAS,” Schumer wrote, using an acronym for unmanned aircraft systems. “State and local law enforcement agencies currently lack the explicit authorities to assist DHS in deploying technology to detect drone signals. These local agencies are responsible for keeping our citizens safe at the local level, and they must be part of a coordinated response.”
Trump weighs in
The confusing situation has again made clear the differing approaches of President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump.
Biden administration officials have repeatedly cited analyses and reviews of flight data and other information. Throughout his term, the president has leaned on experts and by-the-book government processes.
Trump, who often ridicules experts as know-nothing, is more inclined to shoot from the hip.
“Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge,” Trump wrote Friday on social media. “I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!”
At a press conference Monday in Florida, Trump contended that “the government knows what is happening” and “our president knows.”
“Look, our military knows where they took off from. If it’s a garage, they can go right into that garage. They know where it came from and where it went,” he said. “And, for some reason, they don’t want to comment. And I think they’d be better off saying what it is.”
Trump said he doubts the drones are being operated by a foreign government, but declined to disclose whether he had received an intelligence briefing on the situation. Presidents-elect have long been able to access the same intelligence as sitting commanders in chief to ensure a smooth transition between leaders.
The drone drama has created rare agreement between Trump and some congressional Democrats.
“We should be doing some very smart intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told Fox News last week. “They should be shot down, if necessary, because they’re flying over sensitive areas.”
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