Mysterious drones seen across New Jersey and the East Coast last year were authorized to be flown by the Federal Aviation Administration, the White House said Tuesday, echoing an earlier claim by President Donald Trump, who said the drones aren’t “the enemy” amid speculation about their origin.
President Donald Trump previously claimed the drones aren’t “the enemy.”
The drones seen over New Jersey were authorized to be flown by the FAA for “research and various other reasons,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday, citing unspecified “research and study.”
Officials in New Jersey, New York and Connecticut reported sightings of unidentified drones in November and December, resulting in temporary flight restrictions, though the FBI and then-President Joe Biden indicated the drones were “nothing nefarious” and posed “no sense of danger.”
Leavitt noted that many of the drones were operated by “hobbyists, recreational and private individuals” who enjoy flying drones, adding, “This was not the enemy.”
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“After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,” Leavitt said, adding, “In time, it got worse due to curiosity. This was not the enemy.”
On Dec. 13, Trump called for the drones to be shot down after suggesting—without evidence—the federal government was withholding information about the drones from the public. He later told reporters the drones aren’t “the enemy,” while claiming Biden, the federal government and U.S. military “know what is happening” and were keeping the public in “suspense.”
Sightings of drones across the East Coast circulated on social media in November, sparking concerns about national security. The FAA temporarily banned flying drones in New Jersey from December through Jan. 17, while New York Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a “purely precautionary” ban on unapproved drones across several areas in the state, including some “critical infrastructure sites.” The Department of Homeland Security, FBI, FAA and Defense Department issued a joint statement saying they investigated more than 5,000 reports of drone sightings and determined they were a combination of “lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones.”