An influx of unexplained drone sightings in parts of the United States began to make headlines in November, and although authorities have said there is no evidence that the drones are a threat to national security or public safety, experts explain the mystery behind the uptick in sightings.
The drone sightings in November and December originally raised public concerns and even attracted the attention of the FBI.
“The FBI Newark, NJ State Police, and NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness are asking for the public to report any information related to the recent sightings of possible drones flying in several areas along the Raritan River,” a Dec. 3 FBI statement noted.
The Federal Aviation Administration even issued temporary flight restrictions after the large number of sightings, prohibiting drone flights over parts of New Jersey.
“It clearly had taken a dark turn where people had gotten really anxious about what might be in the sky above their houses or above their heads,” Dr. Will Austin, a national drone expert and the president of Warren County Community College, told Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Peter Doocy questioned President Donald Trump about the drones on Monday, asking, “Anything with these drones — is it anything to be worried about?”
“I would like to find out what it is and tell the people. In fact, I’d like to do that,” Trump responded. He then redirected to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. “Could we find out what that was, Susie? Why don’t we find out immediately?”
“I can’t imagine it’s an enemy, or there would have been, you know, people would have gotten blown up, all of them. Maybe they were testing things.
I don’t know why. They wouldn’t have said what it was,” Trump said. “They had a lot of them flying over Bedminster, which is interesting,” referring to his club in New Jersey.
However, an FBI official later said that of the roughly 5,000 tips they received related to reported drone sightings, “less than 100 leads have been generated and deemed worthy of further investigative activity.”
In mid-December, a DHS official said they’re “confident that many of the reported drone sightings are, in fact, manned aircraft being misidentified as drones,” ABC News reported.
An analysis by the White House, in coordination with the FBI and state and local officials, concluded that “lawful, legal, commercial hobbyist and even law enforcement aircraft activity” was responsible for the sightings, former White House national security communications adviser John Kirby previously told Fox News.
“A lot of people have kind of learned in the last few months . . . that there are a lot of things in the airspace that can be mistaken for drones,” Tom Adams, a retired FBI special agent and the director of public safety for DroneShield, a global provider of counter-drone defense solutions, told Fox News Digital.
