White House national security communications adviser John Kirby argued that the government still lacks definitive answers regarding the nature of reported drone sightings as public frustration mounts.
“A lot of the corroborated sightings turned out to be of piloted aircraft. I didn’t mention them all, and what I said was that those were the ones we were able to corroborate,” Kirby said in “The Story “. “There are certainly some that we haven’t been able to resolve, and we don’t know the answer to them, and I strongly recommend that people who see these things and document them share this as much as possible with the Ministry of Homeland . Security and the FBI.
DRONE MYSTERY: NEW JERSEY OWNERS THREATEN TO TAKE MATTERS INTO HAND IF GOVERNMENT DOES NOT ACT
In a letter to Biden on Wednesday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy asked the president for more federal resources to combat drone sightings, noting that federal law limits the capacity of state and local law enforcement to fight against drones.
“…it has become clear that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity,” Murphy wrote. “Continued reports of UAS (unmanned aircraft system) activity have raised more questions than answers and caused a proliferation of conspiracy theories on social media and other platforms.”
A map showing drone sightings around New Jersey.
Kirby raised the possibility that the reported drone sightings could be linked to a private company, saying they “could very well be” commercially developed drones.
“Why don’t we know? I wish I could tell you exactly why we don’t have an answer for you here on the afternoon of December 13,” Kirby said. “But I can tell you that we are working very, very hard to find out, because we want to answer these questions the same way that people in New Jersey want answers.”
Kirby revealed there was an interagency conversation Friday morning on the subject.
“We have now decided to employ additional technology in New Jersey and additional personnel to try to get a better idea of what these things are,” he said.
On Thursday, December 13, New Jersey State Assemblyman Paul Kanitra took a photo of what appears to be several drones hovering in the New Jersey sky. (Paul Kanitra / “Fox News @ Night”)
Sheriff Shaun Golden of Monmouth County, New Jersey, urged authorities to declare a state of emergency following the drone sightings, issuing a statement Wednesday evening. The release included a heat map showing the density of drones spotted in his county:
A heat map showing drone activity in Monmouth County, New Jersey. (Courtesy of Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office)
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Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., whose district includes parts of Monmouth and Ocean counties, described spending Monday evening on a beach where he spoke with several people, including a Guard commander American coast stationed at Barnegat Light.
According to the commander, a 47-foot Coast Guard vessel had been closely followed by more than a dozen drones the night before.
Monmouth and Burlington counties are home to several military installations, including Naval Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
In Middletown, New Jersey, Mayor Tony Perry on Thursday expressed “concerns” to Fox News about drone sightings near the waterfront site of Naval Weapons Station Earle in his town, 14 miles north of Colts Neck facility.
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“I’m not going to lie to you or the American people, and I’m not going to say we know something when we don’t,” Kirby said. “We would never stoop to thinking that any American citizen was crazy or crazy because of what they see and what they document. We take these images seriously and we do our best to analyze them. and “We encourage people to come forward if they have any additional sightings and images.”
