Worry about drones is spreading from New Jersey across the Eastern Seaboard, where state leaders are demanding better answers from the federal government.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania Republican, requested federal resources for his state to track the drones back to their origin, just as New Jersey reportedly has done.
“Pennsylvanians should not have to be afraid of what may be flying over their homes or over areas of critical infrastructure,” Mr. Fitzpatrick said in a letter demanding answers from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
President-elect Donald Trump said he thinks the government knows more than it is disclosing.
“And for some reason, they don’t want to comment. I think they’d be better off saying what it is,” Mr. Trump said. “Our military knows, and our president knows, and for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.”
Mr. Trump declined to say whether he had an intelligence briefing but implied that the drones are not from a foreign adversary.
SEE ALSO: Final verdict: Feds say New Jersey drones are mix of police, hobbyists and commercial UAVs
“If it was the enemy, they’d blast it out,” he said. “Even if they were late, they’d blast it. Something strange is going on. For some reason, they don’t want to tell people.”
The White House said Monday that there is no national security threat from the drones and that they are “legally and lawfully” in the sky.
“Our assessment at this stage is that the activity represents commercial, hobbyist or law enforcement drones, all operating legally and lawfully,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters.
He said more than 1 million drones are registered with the Federal Aviation Administration and that there are “thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones in the sky on any given day.”
Mr. Kirby said the FBI has received roughly 5,000 tips of drone sightings in and around New Jersey and that only about 100 of them required follow-up.
He also said he couldn’t explain the recent uptick in sightings, but that many of them are “duplicative” and some are just “manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and even stars.”
SEE ALSO: Trump says Biden administration knows the truth about mystery drones
After a week of weak excuses, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI deployed infrared cameras and other drone detection technology to New Jersey, ABC News reported.
Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said he wants that technology in his state.
“What we need right now is data,” he said in a statement Sunday. “The briefings I have had tell me there is no evidence that this is a government or foreign activity, and so, we have to answer the logical of question of: who?”
The drones have been reported for about a month. Federal officials are speaking more, but it’s unclear whether they affect public conversation.
The government’s current argument is that most sightings are airplanes.
That does not sit well with New Jersey residents, who say that explanation does not match what they have witnessed.
Their elected officials are generally siding with them.
Rep. Christopher Smith, a New Jersey Republican who went drone-spotting last week, said it was odd for federal officials to rule out the drones as a threat without revealing what they are.
“Why can’t we bag at least one drone and get to the bottom of this?” the congressman said at a news conference Saturday.
A senior FBI official last week called the drones “concerning.” By Thursday, though, the FBI and Homeland Security said they had ruled out nefarious motives or foreign governments as the source of the drones. A White House spokesman said most of the sightings were airplanes.
Sen. Andy Kim, New Jersey Democrat, initially rejected that explanation. He had been out drone-spotting and had a flight-tracking app to rule out airplane traffic. He said he saw drone maneuvers that airplanes could not replicate.
“We clearly saw several that would move horizontally and then immediately switch back in the opposite direction in maneuvers that [a] plane can’t do,” he said on social media.
By Saturday, he had changed his mind.
“After more analysis and help from civilian pilots/experts and flight data, I’ve concluded the possible drone sightings pointed out to me were almost certainly planes,” he said.
• Mallory Wilson contributed to this report.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.