President Donald Trump has called for the Biden White House to shoot down drones flying over several U.S. states after days of mysterious sightings in the skies.
A number of “SUV-sized” aircraft first appeared in New Jersey in mid-November, and have since spread to New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
The first sightings were over the Army’s Picatinny Arsenal in Bedminster and President-elect Donald Trump’s golf course, raising concerns that the drones were part of an espionage mission.
Although President Trump did not directly address the sightings at his club, he called on Joe Biden and the administration to take action in a post on Truth Social on Friday.
He wrote: “Mysterious drones have been sighted all over the country. Is this really happening without the government’s knowledge? I don’t think so! It’s time to let the public know. . Otherwise, shoot them down!
Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy sent a letter directly to Biden on Friday, joining Trump in a bipartisan call to uncover the source of the flying object.
“I wrote to @POTUS to express concerns about reports regarding unmanned aircraft systems in and around New Jersey airspace,” Murphy said.
“Existing law limits the ability of state and local law enforcement to combat UAS, so more federal resources are needed to understand what is behind this activity.”
President Donald Trump has called for the Biden White House to shoot down drones flying over several U.S. states after days of mysterious sightings in the skies.
A large number of “SUV-sized” vessels first appeared in New Jersey in mid-November, and have since spread to New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
Drone sightings have been reported in states such as Texas, Oklahoma, and California, as well as in foreign countries such as Germany. However, it is unclear whether these reports are related to the activity plaguing the Northeast.
Witnesses said drones sometimes appear in groups in New Jersey, often staying in the same location for hours at a time.
Rescue workers responded to a 911 call about a plane crashing in a nearby field outside a Lowe’s store in Hillsboro, but an overnight search found no sign of a forced landing.
The espionage claim appeared to be corroborated this week by New Jersey Congressman Jeff Van Drew, who claimed the drones were coming from an “Iranian mothership” off the East Coast.
But reports of varying levels of reliability have now spread to at least 12 counties across the Garden State, and the Pentagon said there is “no evidence” to support Van Drew’s claims.
Two intelligence experts told DailyMail.com that eyewitness descriptions of the spacecraft: “It sounds exactly like Russia’s Oran-10 drone,” a secret aircraft that flies in groups of three to five.
Adding to the confusion, the White House told the public there was no evidence that the sightings were drones, saying they appeared to be just “manned aircraft” operating legally.
U.S. Army General Darryl Williams told DailyMail.com that the situation mirrors what is happening at U.S./NATO bases across Europe known to supply weapons to Ukraine.
Thousands of reports of mysterious drones flying over New Jersey, residents and local authorities demanding answers
Democratic New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy sent a letter directly to Biden on Friday, joining President Trump in a bipartisan call to uncover the source of the flying object.
And Tim McMillan, a former police inspector and intelligence analyst, told DailyMail.com that descriptions of UFOs in Jersey. “It sounds exactly like Russia’s Oran-10 drone,” a secret aircraft that flies in groups of three to five.
Lieutenant McMillan and other experts noted that the New Jersey sightings were in orbit around the Picatinny Arsenal, home to the U.S. Army CCDC Weapons Center, which is responsible for manufacturing and supplying artillery ammunition to Ukraine. are.
These experts believe that Russia conducts an intelligence-gathering mission known as “ferreting,” in which it deliberately tests the airspace defense procedures and response times of foreign rivals. It suggests that there may be.
Or Russia may simply be spying on Ukraine’s allies who are helping fight Russian occupation of the southeastern region, including Donetsk and Mariupol.
On TCongress asked Robert Wheeler, deputy director of the FBI’s Critical Incident Response Group, on Tuesday whether these drones pose a threat to public safety.
“I don’t know enough about it to say that,” Wheeler told Congress. That’s the area of concern. ”
The Biden administration has also pushed back on claims by Republican lawmakers that the drones are being operated by any of the United States’ foreign adversaries, including claims that the flying objects originated from an Iranian “mother ship” offshore. It also includes the claim that there is.
“At this time, there is no indication that it is a foreign adversary or a foreign actor,” White House national security communications adviser John Kirby told NewsNation’s Kelly Meyer. “The FBI is looking into this. The Department of Justice is looking into this.”
Witnesses noted that the flying object (example above) is larger than the drones used by hobbyists, raising questions about its proximity to critical infrastructure and sensitive areas.
“I know the Department of Defense is monitoring this when it impacts military bases or comes close to military bases,” Kirby added. “In some cases, investigation has revealed that it is actually a manned aircraft rather than a drone.”
“So I can’t tell you clearly and precisely what we’re talking about here,” he said. “So each one is a little different.”
In New Jersey, drones’ ability to evade federal and local law enforcement has frustrated both Governor Murphy and government investigators.
“We don’t fully understand the characteristics of the drone,” said Sergeant Kevin Fennessy, head of the drone unit at the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office in New Jersey.
And indeed, New Jersey officials and residents have also seen a drone that bears no resemblance to a fixed-wing aircraft, deepening the mystery about its origins and intentions.
“The other night, as we were looking, the lights went out and went out. It was pitch black,” Sergeant Fennessy told the New York Times.
However, the head of the drone unit told this newspaper that he estimates the mysterious drone to be approximately twice the size of the drones in his fleet. Compared to most commercial drones in legal use, Russia’s Oran-10 is not far off from its maximum capacity of 33 pounds. Execution.
Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardi told the Asbury Park Press on Monday that his team estimates it was the drone that made the intrusion. They are 3 to 4 feet long, but other law enforcement agencies have reported one drone as long as 8 feet.
Despite assurances from federal and state officials, other local police departments, including the chief of police in Florham Park, New Jersey, believe drones pose a serious threat.
