Donald Trump has demanded that the drones flying over several US states be shot down by the Biden White House after days of mysterious sightings in the skies.
Numerous “SUV-sized” vehicles first appeared in New Jersey in mid-November and have since spread to New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut.
The first sightings took place over the US military’s Picatinny Arsenal and newly elected President Donald Trump’s golf course in Bedminster, raising concerns that the drones are part of a spying campaign.
Trump did not directly address the observations about his club, but demanded action from Joe Biden and the administration in a Truth Social post on Friday.
He wrote: ‘Mysterious drone sightings across the country. Can this really happen without the knowledge of our government? I don’t think so! Let the public know, now. Otherwise shoot them!!! D.J.T.’
Trump joined bipartisan calls to determine the source of the flying objects, as Phil Murphy, the Democratic governor of New Jersey, wrote directly to Biden on Friday.
“I wrote to @POTUS to express my concerns about reports of unmanned aircraft systems in and around NJ airspace,” Murphy said.
“As existing laws limit the ability of state and local law enforcement agencies to counter UAS, more federal resources are needed to understand what is behind this activity.”
Donald Trump has demanded that the drones flying over several US states be shot down by the Biden White House after days of mysterious sightings in the skies
Numerous SUV-sized craft first appeared in New Jersey in mid-November and have since spread to New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut
Drone sightings have also been reported in states such as Texas, Oklahoma and California, as well as abroad such as Germany. But it is unclear whether these reports are related to the activity plaguing the Northeast.
In New Jersey, the drones sometimes appear in groups and, according to eyewitnesses, often stay in the same place for hours.
Rescuers responded to a 911 call saying a plane had crashed in a nearby field outside a Lowe’s in Hillsborough, but an overnight search found no evidence of the crash landing.
The claims of a spy campaign appeared to be confirmed this week by NJ Congressman Jeff Van Drew, who claimed the drones came from an “Iranian mothership” off the East Coast.
However, reports of varying levels of credibility have now spread to at least twelve Garden State counties and the Pentagon has said there is “no evidence” to support Van Drew’s claims.
Two intelligence experts told DailyMail.com that the descriptions of the vessel were given by eyewitnesses ‘sound exactly like Russian Orlan-10 drones’: secret craft that fly in groups of three to five.
To add to the confusion, the White House has told the public that there is no evidence at all that the sightings are drones. It appears that they are simply ‘manned aircraft’ operated legally.
US Army General Darryl Williams told DailyMail.com it is a situation that mirrors what has unfolded at US/NATO bases across Europe known to supply weapons to Ukraine.
And retired police lieutenant and intelligence analyst Tim McMillan told DailyMail.com that the descriptions of the UFOs in Jersey ‘sound exactly like Russian Orlan-10 drones’: secret craft that fly in groups of three to five.
Lt. McMillan and other experts have noted that the New Jersey sightings centered around Picatinny Arsenal, home of the U.S. Army’s CCDC Armaments Center, which is responsible for the production and delivery of artillery ammunition to Ukraine.
These experts suggest that Russia may be conducting an intelligence-gathering mission known as “ferreting,” intended to deliberately trigger and test their foreign rival’s airspace defense procedures and response time.
Or Russia could simply spy on Ukraine’s allies helping in the fight against Russia’s occupation of the southeastern regions, including Donetsk and Mariupol.
On TOn Wednesday, Congress asked Robert Wheeler, FBI assistant director of the bureau’s Critical Incident Response Group, whether these drones posed a threat to public safety.
“There’s nothing known that would cause me to say that,” Wheeler told Congress, “but we just don’t know.” And that’s the relevant part.’
The Biden administration has also pushed back on claims by Republican lawmakers that the drones are controlled by one of America’s foreign adversaries — including claims that the flights are from an Iranian “mothership” off the coast.
“At this point there is no indication that this is a foreign adversary or a foreign actor,” John Kirby, the White House national security communications adviser, told NewsNation’s Kellie Meyer. “The FBI is looking into this. DOJ is looking into this.”
“I know the Department of Defense is looking at this if it affects or comes close to a military base,” Kirby added. ‘In some cases, the investigation has led to the revelation that these were actually manned aircraft and not drones at all.’
“So I can’t tell you definitively what exactly we’re talking about here,” he said. “So everyone’s going to be a little bit different.”
In New Jersey, the drones’ knack for evading their federal and local law enforcement pursuers has frustrated both Governor Murphy and government investigators.
“We’re not getting any good features from the drone,” said Ocean County NJ Sheriff’s Office Drone Unit Chief Sergeant Kevin Fennessy.
And in fact, NJ officials and residents have also spotted drones that don’t look like fixed-wing aircraft, adding to the mystery of the craft’s origins and intent.
“We had one the other day that as we were looking at it, just turned off the lights and it was gone,” Sergeant Fennessy said. The New York Times‘pure darkness.’
But the head of the drone unit did tell the newspaper that he estimates the mysterious drones are about double the size of the drones in his fleet: not far from the Russian Orlan-10’s maximum capacity of 33 pounds compared to most commercial drones used by law. enforcement.
Ocean County Sheriff Michael Mastronardy said Asbury Park Press Monday that his team estimates the invading drones are three to four feet long, although another law enforcement agency has reported a drone that was as long as eight feet long.
Despite assurances from federal and state officials, other local police officers, such as the chief of police in New Jersey’s Florham Park neighborhood, are convinced the drones pose a serious threat.
“Their presence appears to be nefarious in nature,” Police Chief Orlando said.