White House breaks silence on NJ drones with incredible statement

🚨 White House says NJ sightings are not of drones

🚨 Feds address foreign involvement theories

🚨Retiterate: No threat to public safety

Federal officials say people in New Jersey are just seeing things. That are not drones, that is.

The White House says the drones that have been sighted over New Jersey since November may all be planes.

During Thursday's press briefing, White House national security communications adviser John Kirby said there is no evidence to suggest they pose a national security or public safety threat. Kirby also said they do not appear to have any foreign connections.

The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are using "sophisticated sophisticated electronic detection technologies" to determine their origin, Kirby said.

"We have not been able to, and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings. To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully," Kirby said.

Response to Iranian theory

"The United States Coast Guard is providing support to the state of New Jersey and has confirmed that there is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement from coastal vessels," Kirby said.

That appears to be an indirect comment about the contention of Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-NJ, 2ns District, about drones coming from an Iranian drone mothership.

"There are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace," Kirby said. "We certainly take seriously the threat that can be posed by manned aircraft systems which is why law enforcement and other agencies continue to support New Jersey and investigate the reports even though they have uncovered no malicious activity or intent at this particular stage."

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Benchmark for action against drones?

The Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County earlier this week confirmed 11 sightings over base property. The FAA has instituted a no-drone zone over the arsenal and President-elect Donald Trump's golf club in Bedminster where he stays while in New Jersey.

Kirby also echoed the suggestion of several legislators to extend and expand counter-drone authorities so threats can be better mitigated.

When asked if there is any benchmark for when the military might take an action Kirby reiterated that there is no threat to the public.

"If the president as Commander-in-Chief believed based in the information he'd been given that there was a national security threat at play here, or even a public safety threat here, he would issue the appropriate directives to not only law enforcement but the military if needed," Kirby said.

What do they really know about the drones?

The bottom line from Kirby was that they still don't know what exactly people are seeing. A federal ban on the use of drones is not imminent.

"I cannot characterize definitively what these sightings are. I can just go back to what I said at the opening. We've looked at the imagery, we can't corroborate some of the reported sightings through our own expert analysis using sophisticated detection techniques. But that doesn't mean we're putting our pen down this afternoon and calling it a day," Kirby said.

Assemblyman Brian Bergen, R-Morris, called Kirby an "idiot" during an appearance on Fox News. He accused the Biden Administration of ignoring serious national concerns.

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