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American citizens, lawmakers and public officials have expressed shared concerns regarding recent mysterious drone sightings across New York, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, one of the nation’s most vital military bases, was forced to close down temporarily out of an abundance of caution, while the FAA ordered an emergency drone ban in New Jersey. Congress is demanding answers and explanations for all of this, but U.S. federal officials across multiple agencies have reassured Americans that whatever these sightings represent, they do not appear to pose any public safety or national security threat.
Watch the above video as Straight Arrow News contributor Ben Weingarten argues that both Congress and the general public need and deserve answers for what’s happening with these mysterious drone sightings.
On Dec. 12, the DHS and FBI put out a joint statement noting that the agencies have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus. Of course, indicating that there’s no evidence of a security threat or foreign nexus doesn’t mean that the drones don’t pose a security threat or might not be foreign-linked. This statement followed a claim from Republican Congressman Jeff Van drew suggesting the drones over the Garden State might be Iran-linked, and others have joined him in raising these concerns in Congress.
The Pentagon batted down the representative’s remarks, yet he’s fired back, claiming his source’s accusations are credible. With all manner of theories still circulating as the drones have continued to proliferate, on Dec. 16, the DHS, FBI, FAA and Pentagon put out another statement, indicating that, “having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and stars mistakenly reported as drones. We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the Northeast.” Gee, thanks for the specificity.
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