Americans are confused and concerned about the drone sightings that began in New Jersey and have started to be seen in other states and the lack of a response or answers from the federal government has only brought more consternation from citizens.
President-elect Donald Trump had a response to the madness and a suggestion for the administration of President Joe Biden in a post on TruthSocial.
“Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!” he said.
More frustrating is that the federal government’s only response so far is to suggest that people are misinterpreting what they are seeing.
“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus. The FBI, DHS and our federal partners, in close coordination with the New Jersey State Police, continue to deploy personnel and technology to investigate this situation and confirm whether the reported drone flights are actually drones or are instead manned aircraft or otherwise inaccurate sightings,” the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security said in a joint press release.
“Historically, we have experienced cases of mistaken identity, where reported drones are, in fact, manned aircraft or facilities. We are supporting local law enforcement in New Jersey with numerous detection methods but have not corroborated any of the reported visual sightings with electronic detection. To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully. There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space,” the agencies said.
“We take seriously the threat that can be posed by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), which is why law enforcement and other agencies continue to support New Jersey and investigate the reports. To be clear, they have uncovered no such malicious activity or intent at this stage. While there is no known malicious activity occurring in New Jersey, the reported sightings there do, however, highlight the insufficiency of current authorities,” they said.
Republican and Democrat elected leaders have shared their frustration with the federal government’s response.
“I’ve been a little frustrated,” New Jersey Democrat Sen. Cory Booker said to reporters. “There hasn’t been enough transparency letting people know what’s happening. It’s allowing a lot of potential misinformation to spread, or at least fear. We should know what’s going on over our skies.”