U.S. national security officials Concerns about mysterious drones flying over the Northeast appeared to be allayed in a recent conversation with reporters, with one official describing the nationwide uneasiness as ” “A slight overreaction.”
The call, which Fox News Digital Saturday participated in, was organized by senior Biden administration officials, including representatives from the FBI, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Security Council (NSC), Department of Homeland Security ( DHS) and Department of Defense (DOD)
Senior officials remain silent about the origins of the drones. which is still being investigated The mysterious plane was first seen flying over northern New Jersey in mid-November. And thousands of people have seen it over and over over the past few weeks.
During a phone call with reporters One FBI official said his agency has received 5,000 tips since the mysterious drone was first seen flying over the Garden State in November. Of the 5,000 recommendations, fewer than 100 require further investigation, officials said.
More than 20 days into the phenomenon, the Pentagon still has no answers about the origins of the mysterious New Jersey drone.
In this image taken from a video produced by MartyA45_, it appears that several drones are flying over Randolph. New Jersey on December 1, 4. (MartyA45_ /TMX via AP, file)
The FBI official added: Investigators found no evidence of large-scale unmanned drone activity. This is despite drone activity increasing in recent weeks.
“We are doing our best to find out the origins of those drone activities,” the official said. “But I think there was a bit of an overreaction.”
Echoing comments from FBI agents, DHS officials noted that While his agency has not rejected all suggestions that drones are unreliable, “the actual amount of drone activity is likely less than what has been reported.”
The Ministry of Defense official added that the agency had collected “There is no intelligence or observation to indicate that these (drones) are aligned with foreign actors or that they have malicious intent.”
“But you know, just telling you. We don’t know,” the representative said. “We cannot locate or identify the operator or origin.”
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Paul Kanitra, New Jersey House of Representatives member Photographed of what appear to be multiple drones hovering in the skies of New Jersey. (Paul Kanitra/Fox News @ Night)
The Pentagon official added: There are limitations to investigating the origins of these drones.
“We are still very restricted. And in fact We are prohibited from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance here at home,” the spokesperson said, “so we do not have the same capabilities and methods that we would use in other locations outside the homeland to determine origins.”
“Here, on the military side, we are also frustrated by the irresponsible nature of this activity,” the official admitted.
NSC officials echoed the sentiments of Ministry of Defense representatives. It argued that there was no evidence that foreign adversaries were involved in the drones. and there is no proof of a threat to public safety.
Map showing some of the locations where mysterious drones were seen in December 2024. (Fox News)
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“Obviously. We are taking this matter incredibly seriously at this point,” an NSC official said. “We have not determined any basis. Which leads us to believe that… there is criminal activity involved. There is a threat to national security. There are specific public safety threats. Or are there dangerous foreign actors involved with these drones?”
Fox News’ Daniel Scully contributed to this report.
