Pentagon should assume drone 'invasion' is 'not friendly,' New Jersey lawmaker says: 'Wake up!'
For nearly a month, Americans in the northeast have spotted what appear to be drones flying through U.S. airspace with no definitive conclusions from the federal government.
The White House has responded with some information, but one New Jersey lawmaker is demanding the federal government "wake up" and get to the bottom of the "very threatening situation."
"We need to wake up!" Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said Friday on "Your World." "To go about a month of doing nothing, and again, this is why I'm so upset with the Pentagon. To just say again, nothing to see here, puts our people at risk."
"We need to identify, identify, identify and then take appropriate action. We can't allow this invasion of drones that we have no idea what their intent is other than — the presumption should be they're not friendly. If they turn out to be friendly, break out the champagne bottle. But that's not, in my opinion, what's happening here."
More than three weeks after dozens of purported drones began appearing in the New Jersey night sky, the public has still been offered no clear insight on what the phenomenon actually is.
The drones were first reported around Nov. 18, and have been spotted every night since, flying from dusk to about 11 p.m. Reports have ranged from four to 180 sightings per night, according to New Jersey Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, who relayed a briefing given by law enforcement.
Residents in states like New Jersey, Connecticut and New York, as well as state and federal lawmakers, are demanding answers.
White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said Thursday that a number of the purported drone sightings spotted over New Jersey for the past several weeks appear to be piloted aircraft.
"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 at the White House press briefing. "The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating these sightings, and they're working closely with state and local law enforcement to provide resources using numerous detection methods to better understand their origin."
"Using very sophisticated electronic detection technologies provided by federal authorities, we have not been able to, and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings," he said. "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. 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. And importantly, there are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace."
Smith told Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto he was "appalled" by Kirby's comments.
"I am appalled by yesterday's statements by Adm. Kirby somehow suggesting that — ‘Nothing to see here.’ There's a whole lot to see here, Admiral... For the sake of national security, DOD has to be on top of this, and they have not been."
The New Jersey representative suspected that while some of the sightings could be regular aircrafts, "one of the nation-state terrorists like Russia or Iran or China" is likely behind the drones.
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Fox News' Michael Ruiz, Julia Bonavita, Danielle Wallace, Louis Casiano, David Spunt and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.