Mass drone scare in US: Donald Trump’s administration reveals the mystery - ‘Not the enemy, authorized to conduct…’

The White House issued a clarification on Tuesday amid continued speculation about drone sightings over New Jersey. The remarks echo statements shared by the Joe Biden-led former administration amid a flurry of conspiracy theories — including some floated on the campaign trail by President Donald Trump. The Republican leader had previously suggested without citing evidence that the US military was willfully withholding information about the sightings.

“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. Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones,” an official statement said.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also described the remarks as a statement directly from the president.

Trump sparks conspiracy buzz

Drone sightings over the past couple of months have sparked frenzied speculation — from buzz about alien invasions to worry about surveillance from foreign powers.

“For some reason they don’t want to comment. And I think they’d be better off saying what it is if our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason they want to keep people in suspense,” Trump had said in December.

Alien invasion?

Local residents have described the drones as 'hovering over critical infrastructure sites such as water reservoirs, electric transmission lines, rail stations, police departments and military installations. The White House under Joe Biden as well as the Pentagon and other national security officials have repeatedly rebuffed those theories — saying that there’s no evidence that the drones pose a security risk.

‘Not a military threat’

Former Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder had also refuted claims about the drone sightings posing any security threat during a briefing in mid-December.

“We'll continue to take appropriate action if and when it's deemed that any of these drones near US military installations pose a threat. But in the meantime, again, I think it's been very clear that we've not identified that any of these reported drone sightings were assessed as anomalous or that it presented a national security or public safety risk over civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast,” he had said at the time.

(With inputs from agencies)