Don’t believe your eyes!
The Biden administration brushed off the baffling New Jersey drone mystery – even as top lawmakers from both New York and NJ have demanded a federal briefing — and suggested nefarious foreign meddling could be at play.
During a White House briefing Thursday, White House national security council spokesman John Kirby said federal investigators have been unable to verify any of 3,000-plus of reports of car-size drones patrolling the nighttime skies in recent weeks.
And he suggested that most claims of mysterious drones are actually people mistaking them for helicopters or airplanes that are legally flying.
That explaination comes despite dozens of citizens, law enforcement officials — and even the US Army’s Picatinny Arsenal, which is the center of drone sightings in the Garden State — all reporting strange activity in the skies night after night.
“We have not been able to, and neither have state and local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings,” Kirby told reporters.
Here’s what we know about the mysterious drones hovering over NJ
- The drones first made headlines after a helicopter trying to pick up a crash victim had to turn around
- New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the drones do not pose a threat to the public
- Drones appeared in Staten Island days later as local pols want answers
- NJ Rep. Jeff Van Drew claims the drones are coming from Iran and should be shot down
- Drones appeared in NYC early Thursday morning
- White House officials claim people are mistaking drones for helicopters and airplanes in the sky
Do you have footage of drones over the skies of New Jersey or New York? Send it to The Post at [email protected].
He added: “Upon review of available imagery, it appears many of the reports of sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully.”
However, he did admit that the sightings have underscored that the US government has “a gap in authority” over how the feds can deal with mysterious drones and other UFOs, and he recommended Congress pass legislation to expand counter-drone authority.
The public frustration over the lack of answers hit a peak on Wednesday when US Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R, NJ) claimed “highly reliable” sources told him the drones could be coming from an Iranian mothership stationed offshore — a claim the Pentagon quickly denied, without offering any fruther insight.
But Van Drew – who wrote a letter to President Biden demanding an explanation for the phenomenon – doubled down on his claims Thursday, telling Fox News “we are not being told the truth,” and that the Pentagon is “dealing with the American public like we’re stupid.”
He also released satellite imagery form an Iranian port showing a purported drone mothership setting sail around Nov. 12, just days before the reports began in Jersey on Nov. 18.
The demand for answers has now gone bipartisan, too.
On Wednesday, the US Senators from New York and New Jersey — Chuck Schumer, Kirsten Gillibrand, Cory Booker and Senator-elect Andy Kim – co-signed a letter to the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Aviation Administration demanding they explain what is being done to “identify and address the source of these incursions.”
“We write out of urgent concern regarding the unmanned aerial system activity that has affected communities across New York and New Jersey in recent days,” the Democratic senators wrote, adding that the ongoing nature of these drone incidents” had left them “concerned.”
“Since late November, communities in the New York City area and northern New Jersey have reported several incidents of unattributable drone sightings at night, alarming both residents and local law enforcement,” they added, explaining the objects had been repeatedly seen near “critical infrastructure and sensitive locations,” like reservoirs and military bases.
While the White House has brushed off the reports — and the DHS shortly thereafter – local civilian drone experts have said some sightings have mundane explainations — civilian aircraft, helicopters or satellites — but there are many others they can’t be explained.
“It’s gotta be military or some sort of government entity,” said Hayley Connelly, who has operated North Jersey Drone Shots with her husband for 12 years and is an expert on the civilian market.
The couple told The Post the drones appear to be exhibiting technology far beyond the scope of what is available on the market – namely extremely long battery-life, weather resistance, and the sheer size of them compared to the altitudes they’re flying.
Brett Velicovich, a US Army special operations veteran, also thinks there is more at play than the government’s nothing-to-see-here dismissals.
“My gut, frankly, tells me it’s an adversary that’s doing this because if it was some secret military testing, the government would have put an end to it because of the hysteria,” he told Fox News.
“I find it very difficult to believe that our government doesn’t really know anything about this.”