Ongoing sightings of drones over the northeastern U.S. are mostly conventional unmanned aerial systems (UAS) being operated lawfully, along with misidentifications of manned aircraft and celestial objects, the Pentagon says.
The U.S. Department of Defense revealed its assessment on Tuesday morning in a joint statement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Citing more than one million drones currently operating lawfully in the U.S., the assessment was based on an analysis of more than 5,000 drone sighting reports received by the FBI in recent weeks.
“Consistent with each of our unique missions and authorities, we are quickly working to prioritize and follow these leads,” the statement read. “We have sent advanced detection technology to the region. And we have sent trained visual observers.”
Based on an assessment of 100 leads generated from tips the FBI received, sightings of drones over New Jersey and surrounding states were all assessed to be the normal, lawful operations of “commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.”
“We have not identified anything anomalous,” the statement added, “and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.”
The statement also acknowledged that there had been a limited number of recent sightings of drones “over military facilities in New Jersey and elsewhere, including within restricted airspace.”
The admission stands in stark contrast to earlier statements made by officials last week, most notably from White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby, who stated on Thursday there had been “no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace.”
One day after Kirby’s statements, normal operations at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio were interrupted for close to four hours beginning on Friday night and continuing into early Saturday morning, as the installation temporarily closed its airspace following sightings of unauthorized drone flights nearby.
Wright Patterson spokesman Robert Purtiman said that “none of the incursions impacted any of our residents, facilities or assets,” and that appropriate measures were being taken to protect the installation following the incident.
On Monday, President-elect Donald Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago home that the U.S. government “knows what is happening” regarding the ongoing sightings.
Mr. Trump, who declined to comment on whether he had been briefed on the matter, said he was confident that military officials knew where the drones were coming from.
“Our military knows where they took off from and where they landed,” Trump said, “and for some reason, they don’t want to comment.”
“I think they’d be better off saying what it is,” he added. “Our military knows and our President knows. For some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.”
“I can’t imagine it’s the enemy,” he added, “because if it was, they’d blast it.” Mr. Trump confirmed that the ongoing sightings had prompted him to cancel a forthcoming trip to New Jersey.
Also speaking on Monday, Pentagon Spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder acknowledged the drone sightings, including those occurring over military installations, emphasizing that DoD officials “are sensitive to the fact that there are public concerns and many questions.”
“Flying drones is not illegal,” Ryder said during a press briefing at the Pentagon. “There are thousands of drones flown around the US on a daily basis.”
“So, as a result, it’s not that unusual to see drones in the sky, nor is it an indication of malicious activity or any public safety threat,” he added.
Ryder said concerns about drone flights, including those over U.S. military installations, are likely unwarranted, and that such activities occur more frequently than the public is aware.
“Some fly near or over our bases from time to time. That in and of itself is not unusual and the vast majority pose no physical threat to our forces or impact our operations,” Ryder said, likening the appearances of drones near military facilities to unauthorized vehicles that that, on occasion, mistakenly approach or enter military areas.
Tuesday’s joint statement similarly confirmed that “Such sightings near or over DoD installations are not new.”
“DoD takes unauthorized access over its airspace seriously and coordinates closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, as appropriate,” the statement read. “Local commanders are actively engaged to ensure there are appropriate detection and mitigation measures in place,” it added.
Ryder told reporters on Monday that if unauthorized drone activities are determined to have been engaged in malicious activity or may otherwise seem threatening, “commanders are authorized to take appropriate action to mitigate and counter these unmanned systems.”
“So, to be clear, we’ll continue to do everything possible to investigate reports of concerning activity,” Ryder told reporters on Monday.
“But given how many drones are lawfully in our skies every day, we need to be careful to avoid assuming malintent or malicious behavior.”
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks.