Biden’s response to drones over blue state New Jersey creates more anxiety

Politicians from both parties at the local, state and federal levels are asking the White House to be more transparent about information relating to drone sightings across New Jersey.

“I’m concerned,”  New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat, told reporters. “I issued a letter to ask for more information. And I think there should be a lot more transparency.”

Multiple media outlets have shared extensive video of drones in the skies over New Jersey, including reports of some over military facilities.

The drones first appeared on the public’s radar a week ago after “car-sized” unmanned aerial vehicles had been spotted over President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf course and Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military research facility, reported the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Pleas from the public for more information followed contradictory statements by different federal authorities regarding what they know about the drones.

Federal law enforcement denied the craft have shown up on their radar.

The government in Washington, D.C., is saying it’s a local problem.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security in a statement claimed, “We are supporting local law enforcement in New Jersey with numerous detection methods but have not corroborated any of the reported visual sightings with electronic detection.”

“It appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully,” the statement continues. “There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space.”

Yet that statement seems at odds with the reports of drone sightings at the military research facility previously noted. It’s also at odds with other statements made by intelligence and defense officials.

“While no direct threats to the installation have been identified, we can confirm at least two instances of an unidentified drone entering the airspace above Naval Weapons Station Earle,” a public affairs officer for the installation told DefenseScoop.

Similarly, an intelligence publication specializing in technology has noted nearly a dozen sightings of drones near a U.S. military installation by the U.S. Army’s own admission.

“A U.S. Army base in northern Morris County has already had at least 11 sightings, Army officials said this week, several of which came even after the Federal Aviation Administration moved to temporarily restrict drones from flying overhead,” reported OODA Loop.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby repeated the administration claims that there is nothing more it can do, and instead asked Congress to pass a law addressing drones.

“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,” Kirby told reporters.

He noted that the Coast Guard “has confirmed that there is no evidence of any foreign based involvement from coastal vessels” and that “there are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace.”

The White House then said it’s a congressional problem.

“So, we urge Congress to pass important legislation that will extend and expand existing counter drone authorities,” Kirby added.

Contradicting Kirby, Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey, told a congressional hearing that he was briefed by a Coast Guard Commanding Officer stationed in Barnegat Lighthouse in Ocean County, New Jersey, that “more than a dozen drones followed a [47 ft.] USCG motor lifeboat in close pursuit over the weekend.”

Fellow Republican and New Jerseyan Rep. Jeff Van Drew, told Fox News that high-level sources told him the drones came from an Iranian “mothership” located offshore that was launched a month ago.

Van Drew is on the transportation and aviation subcommittees, so he would have access to information not available to the public.

The Pentagon denied the claim.

The contradictions and the information vacuum coming from the Biden White House may be why, even for Democrats, the White House statements are hard to swallow, especially since it affects blue state New Jersey and the surrounding Mid-Atlantic region.

“We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Connecticut, according to the Associated Press.

Richard Grenell, Trump’s former intelligence chief, told Newsmax that when intelligence agencies aren’t giving the public adequate information, it makes people more anxious.

“We don’t know what these drones are. We do know that Iran wants to kill President Trump. Are they gathering information? Who’s sending these drones? Are people unwittingly giving information to a foreign government? We have so many questions,” he said.

Grenell said that trust in the government is at stake, and building trust requires transparency from the government about what it knows or doesn’t know.

“If the intelligence community wants us to calm down and believe them, then they need to come forward and do their duty in telling the public some information,” Grenell added.