U.S. national security officials appeared to dismiss concerns about mysterious drones flying over the Northeast in recent calls with reporters, going so far as to describe the nationwide unease as a “mild overreaction.”
Fox News Digital participated in the call on Saturday, hosted by senior Biden administration officials, including those from the FBI, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Security Council (NSC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense represent.
Senior officials have remained tight-lipped about the origin of the drone, which remains under investigation. The mysterious plane was first spotted flying over northern New Jersey in mid-November and has been sighted multiple times by thousands of residents over the past few weeks.
An FBI official said on a call with reporters that his agency has received 5,000 tips since the first mysterious drone was spotted over the Garden State in November. Of the 5,000 reports, fewer than 100 required further investigation, the official said.
More than 20 days after the phenomenon, the Pentagon still has no answers about the origins of the mysterious New Jersey drone
In this image from the video provided by MartyA45_, several drones appear to be flying over Randolph, New Jersey, on December 4. (MartyA45_/TMX via AP, File)
FBI officials added that although drone activity has increased in recent weeks, investigators have not found evidence of large-scale drone activity.
“We’re doing our best to find the specific … origins of those drone activities,” the official said. “But I think the response was a little over the top.”
A DHS official responded to the FBI representative’s comments by noting that while the agency is not dismissing all reports of drones as untrustworthy, “the actual amount of drone activity may be higher than reported.” Want less.
A Defense Department official added that the agency “has not collected any intelligence or observations that indicate [the drones] Alignment with foreign actors or their malicious intent.
“But, you know, just to tell you simply, we don’t know,” the representative said. “We were unable to locate or identify the operator or point of departure.”
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New Jersey Assemblyman Paul Kanitra captured a photo of what appeared to be multiple drones circling the New Jersey sky. (Paul Canitra/Fox News @ Evening)
Pentagon officials added that investigating the origins of drones has its limitations.
“We are also subject to severe restrictions, in fact we are prohibited from conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in our home country,” the spokesman noted. “As a result, we do not have the same capabilities and methods to determine origin that are used elsewhere outside our home country. ”
“On the military side, we are frustrated by the irresponsible nature of this activity,” the official acknowledged.
A National Security Council official echoed the sentiments of Defense Department representatives, saying there was no evidence that a foreign adversary was involved in the development of the drones or that there was any threat to public safety.
The map shows some of the locations where mysterious drones were spotted in December 2024. (Fox News)
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“Obviously, we are taking this very seriously right now,” the National Security Council official said. “We do not find any reason to believe … that any criminal activity was involved, that there was any national security threat, that there was any specific public safety threat, or that these drones involved malicious foreign actors.”
Fox News’ Daniel Sculley contributed to this report.
