White House: No evidence of public safety threat from NJ drone sightings

The White House on Thursday said there is no evidence of a national security or public safety threat after reports of drone sightings in New Jersey, highlighting that the government is working to identify what the mysterious sightings are.

“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,” national security communications adviser John Kirby told reporters.

Kirby noted that the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard are working with local officials and using numerous detection methods to understand the origins of the sightings.

He said that it appears that many of the reported sightings are manned aircraft being operated lawfully, adding there have been no reported drone sightings in restricted areas.

“We understand that people are concerned, we understand they’ve got questions, we’ve got questions too and we’re working hard to get the answers to that,” Kirby said.

“We haven’t seen any indication thus far that there’s a public safety risk,” he added. “We are still investigating this … I cannot characterize for you definitively what these sightings are.”

Kirby said that if President Biden believed there was a national security or public safety threat, “he would issue the appropriate directives to not only law enforcement but maybe the military if that’s needed.”

The sightings have rattled Garden State residents in recent days, with Gov. Phil Murphy (D) saying on Monday that he is taking them “deadly seriously.” Senators from New Jersey and New York sent a letter Thursday to the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and Federal Aviation Administration demanding a briefing on the drones.

Kirby told reporters he’s not aware of imagery produced by the U.S. government of the drones and that there has been federal analysis of the existing imagery.

“We’ve looked at the imagery. We can’t corroborate some of the reported sightings through our own expert analysis using sophisticated detection techniques, but that doesn’t mean we’re putting our pen down this afternoon,” he said.

Kirby said the administration was working on getting more information.

“The analysis thus far, in an investigation that is ongoing, has not revealed any national security or malicious intent or criminal activity,” he said, “We’re at the beginning here, not the end, there’s a lot more work to be done, and we’re working closely with state and local authorities to gain more information.”

The drones were first spotted last month, with the majority of sightings in Hunterdon and Morris counties in New Jersey. A spokesperson with the Morris County Sheriff’s Office described the drones as similar to “small cars” in size.

Murphy said last week he convened a briefing to “discuss reported drone activity over parts of North and Central New Jersey,” which included Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, others in the Department of Homeland Security, New Jersey government officials and members of the state’s congressional delegation.

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