President Biden broke his silence on the alarming number of drone sightings gripping the tri-state area, insisting there is “no sense of danger” affiliated with the unexplained flights.
“Nothing nefarious apparently, but they’re checking it all out,” Biden told reporters at the White House on Tuesday as many lawmakers have joined concerned members of the public in demanding answers from the federal government into the origins of the reported drones.
“We’re following this closely, but so far no sense of danger,” the 82-year-old president said.
“There’s a lot of drones authorized up there,” Biden said. “I think one started it and they all — everybody wanted to get in the deal,” he opined, presumably referring to a “copycat” theory that has been floated as a possible source for the deluge of drone sightings.
Biden’s statements echoed his administration’s assertion that the public needn’t worry about the unidentified flying objects, which they claim are mainly manned aircraft.
The FBI, FAA, Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security said in a joint statement Monday that there was little reason for concern.
“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,” the agencies said.
The first drone sightings were reported in New Jersey on Nov. 18.
Since then, the feds revealed they have fielded more than 5,000 tips, of which roughly 100 warranted further investigation, according to the federal agencies.
Despite the government’s assurances that the drones aren’t sinister in nature, there has been a chorus of calls from elected officials for an explanation behind the baffling sightings.
Drone-detecting devices were deployed in New Jersey over the weekend, according to Gov. Phil Murphy.
New York Sen. Chuck Schumer called on the federal government Sunday to utilize recently declassified radar technology to get to the bottom of the mystery.
President-elect Donald Trump accused Biden and his administration of covering up the truth about the source of the drones.
“The government knows what is happening,” Trump said on Monday. “Look, our military knows where they took off from — if it’s a garage, they can go right into that garage. They know where it came from and where it went, and for some reason they don’t want to comment,” the president-elect added.
“And I think they’d be better off saying what it is. Our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.”
