White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday (Jan 28) that the drones which were sighted above New Jersey last month were “not the enemy” while reading President Trump’s assessment. She added that many were doing “research”, raising even more questions for the citizens.
Last month, Trump slammed former President Biden over the drone sightings, calling on authorities to "shoot" them down.
“After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,” Leavitt said, reading a statement by Trump during her first briefing.
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“Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.”
Unclear explanation
The explanation did not clarify what research or other reasons were there for the drone sightings, many of which occurred near military bases.
Some leading politicians have also been sceptical of the official explanation for the drones. Last month, the then House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Mike McCaul (R-Texas) said that he believed many of them were “spy drones” from China.
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“My judgement based on my experience is that those that are over our military sites are adversarial and most likely are coming from the People’s Republic of China,” McCaul had said.
“We’re not getting answers and I think it’s because our government does not know who is behind them and that is very disturbing to me.”
Apart from New Jersey, the drones were also seen over New York City and other parts of the US, leading to a sense of hysteria among the people. However, the government agencies insisted they pose no threat.
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A joint statement by the FBI, FAA, Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security said that “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.”
Trump accused Biden of coverup
Trump, who was the president-elect at the time, had accused Biden and his aides of a coverup.
Taking to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote, "Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!".
He also said, “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.”
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“I can’t imagine it’s the enemy, because if it was the enemy, they’d blast it.”
(With inputs from agencies)