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White House gives major update on the source of mysterious drones swarming over New Jersey - as the number of sightings reported reach staggering new levels

[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] With a growing constellation of lawmakers demanding answers from the feds about mysterious drone sightings over New Jersey, the White House is now blaming hobbyists, planes and even the stars for what it describes as misidentifications.

The latest answer, after days of mounting pressure from Congress, comes amid repeat sightings over populated areas and even U.S. military facilities.

The federal response to date has left figures in both parties demanding more transparency and a plan to confront any possible threat.

Donald Trump joined the chorus of fed up critics Monday after posting about it over the weekend, saying 'something strange is going on.'

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is also demanding answers about the mysterious phenomenon and wants to know 'what the heck is going on.'

With public pressure growing and concerned citizens filing a skein reports to authorities, White House national security spokesman John Kirby attempted to confront the fury.

He began his remarks to reporters Monday at a briefing by pointing to the proliferation of hobbyist drones over the sky.

'There are more than 1 million drones that are lawfully registered with the Federal Aviation Administration here in the United States, and there are thousands of commercial hobbyists and law enforcement drones that are lawfully in the sky on any given day,' Kirby told reporters.

He said the FBI had received tips on 5,000 drone sightings in recent weeks of which 100 they 'felt needed to be followed up on.'

Then Kirby pointed to the array of explanations over what U.S. officials believe to be in the skies, having looked at the various tips – even saying misidentified stars were part of the problem.

'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 even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones.'

'We have not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace In New Jersey, or other states in the Northeast. The work continues.'

'But I want to stress again, our assessment at this stage is that the activity represents commercial, hobbyist law enforcement drones, all operating legally and lawful and or civilian aviation aircraft,' he underlined.

He cited federal 'resources and personnel' as supporting the efforts, including additional 'advanced detection technology' and trained observers.

His comments were similar to a joint statement later released by the DHS, FBI, FAA, and the Defense Department. His words came hours after Trump blasted the federal response as he made a comment, perhaps joking, that he was holding off on visiting his Bedminster, New Jersey golf course because of the situation.

'Something strange is going on,' Trump told reporters in response to a question about the drone sightings. 'For some reason, they don't want to tell the people.'

'They're very close to Bedminster. I think maybe I won't spend the weekend in Bedminster. I've decided to cancel my trip,' he said.

Kirby's comments come days after New Jersey Republican state lawmakers blasted his prior response as 'idiotic' even as they were followed by new sightings at Naval Air Station Earle in New Jersey.

Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers about the mysterious New Jersey drones that federal authorities and President Joe Biden have yet to explain.

The bizarre unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) were first noticed hovering over New Jersey over a month ago, yet neither local or federal authorities have offered an explanation behind the lights that dash across the sky from dusk to dawn - notably disappearing during daylight.

Biden has since tasked his agencies with finding out what is occurring over the Garden State, White House spokesman John Kirby said last week on Fox News.

In the same interview Kirby, the White House National Security Communications Advisor, did not have an explanation to offer as to what was behind the UAPs, saying the president's men are still searching for answers.

Posted by: Skidmark 2024-12-17

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