In a press briefing on Wednesday, the Pentagon said it has no evidence that the mysterious drones that have been flying over New Jersey and other parts of the northeast U.S. in recent weeks were coming from a foreign entity, nor were they U.S. military drones. The comments come a day after a U.S. Congressional hearing focused on the increasing drone activity, where several Capital Hill lawmakers expressed frustration with the lack of information and response to the drone incursions.
The FBI told lawmakers during Tuesday’s hearing that it’s working with state and local authorities to investigate the situation and had received north of 3,000 reports of sightings from the public. However, it didn’t yet know who was responsible. Of note, a senior FBI official revealed that the organization’s budget for counter-drone activity was only around $500,000.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had banned drone flights in parts of New Jersey back in November, as a result of drones flying over the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster and the Picatinny Arsenal military research and manufacturing facility in Morris County, according to press reports at the time.
Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh shared more about the drones in a briefing on Wednesday, where she explained that the drones were not likely from a foreign adversary.
“At this time, we have no evidence that these activities are coming from a foreign adversary. We’re going to continue to monitor what is happening but, at no point were our installations threatened when this activity was occurring,” she said.
When asked if she could rule out whether these were American drones, she responded, “These are not U.S. military drones.” She again reiterated that the initial assessment indicates the drones are not coming from a foreign entity or adversary. Singh also shot down a theory raised by Rep. Jefferson Van Drew (R-NJ) who claimed the drones were being launched by an Iranian “mothership” off the coast of the U.S.
“There is not any truth to that. There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States and there’s no so-called ‘mothership’ launching drones towards the United States,” Singh said.
What the hearing didn’t reveal, however, is who is behind the drones, which have worried local residents and even once prevented a medevac helicopter from being able to take an injured car crash victim to a NJ area hospital.
In addition to concerns over foreign threats, theories about what the drones are have ranged from them being a part of a secret military program known to few to UAPs (UFOs). The Pentagon now has to regularly investigate the latter, particularly as the consumer and commercial use of drones has increased.
The investigation may also reveal that some of the reported sightings could be drones or “small airplanes,” Singh said.