Many Americans remain frustrated by the lack of action taken by United States defense organizations after reports and sightings of drones flying over skies on the East Coast for nearly a month. Since mid-November, residents of New Jersey have been notifying law enforcement of drones — described as the size of “small cars”— hovering over their properties.
The drones have been heavily spotted in New Jersey, but residents in some parts of New York and Pennsylvania also reported sightings in the last month. The public still does not know their origin or reason for flying over the eastern side of the U.S.
In response to the lack of information from government officials, some residents have implied taking matters into their own hands. According to Fox News, one person wrote in the comments section of a video regarding the drones, “A good shotgun will fix that problem.” Another said, “Why hasn’t anyone shot one down to look for a serial number to trace it back to the operator?” Adding, “I would think that could provide a clue.”
The general public isn’t the only one frustrated with drones still being allowed in the air.
On Wednesday, New Jersey GOP Rep. Jeff Van Drew, shared his criticism of the Federal Aviation Administration during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s hearing.
“We have a serious problem with our aerospace. The recent sightings of unidentified drones in the state of New Jersey, my home state, is justifiably causing tremendous public concern,” he said, per ABC News.
Van Drew believes the drones are from an apparent “Iranian mothership.”
“I’ve learned, for real, that there is circumstantial evidence that there’s an Iranian mothership off the East Coast of the United States, and that’s launching these drone incursions,” he added. However, the Pentagon was quick to squash those claims.
“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,” Sabrina Sing, deputy Pentagon press secretary, told reporters in a news briefing Wednesday.
“We’re going to continue to monitor what is happening.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also called for decisive action, emphasizing the frustration among state representatives over the lack of clear information to share with their constituents as drones continue to operate above their homes.
“We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases,” Blumenthal said Thursday, asking the White House to be more transparent, per The Associated Press.
White House press secretary John Kirby said upon reviewing the drone sightings, they are “manned aircraft(s) being flown lawfully” and have not been over restricted areas.
“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus,” Kirby said, according to the AP.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation also issued a joint statement on Thursday:
“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus. ... We take seriously the threat that can be posed by unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), which is why law enforcement and other agencies continue to support New Jersey and investigate the reports. To be clear, they have uncovered no such malicious activity or intent at this stage. While there is no known malicious activity occurring in New Jersey, the reported sightings there do, however, highlight the insufficiency of current authorities.”