New Jersey authorities continue to demand answers as dozens of mysterious drones have been spotted across the state in recent weeks, including near sensitive sites such as a military research facility, The Associated Press reported.
The Coast Guard reported that one of their ships was trailed very closely by more than a dozen drones, and most but not all of these drones spotted in New Jersey have been larger than the ones typically used by hobbyists.
The White House has refused meaningful comment on the matter, but Jeff Van Drew, a House Republican from New Jersey has not.
White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday offered no clarity other than to say President Joe Biden has been briefed and that the Department of Homeland Security and FBI are investigating.
Van Drew: Sources point to Iran
Van Drew took things a step farther Wednesday. In an appearance on Fox News Van Drew said the drones “very possibly could be” from Iran. He cited confidential sources, The New York Post reported.
“These drones should be shot down,” Van Drew said. “I’m going to tell you the real deal. Iran launched a mothership that contains these drones. It’s off the East Cost of the United States of America. They’ve launched these drones.”
Van Drew, whose district includes most of the Jersey Shore area, did not reveal his sources.
He is a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure committees.
After the Fox interview, a reporter at a Pentagon briefing repeated the Congressman's claims of Iran's involvement and asked if it is true.
"There is not any truth to that," Sabrina Singh, a deputy press secretary, told the reporter.
Bob Maginnis is Senior Fellow for National Security at the Family Research Council. He cannot understand why no action has been taken.
"I don't know why we don't know what it's about. We shoot down drones all the time. The technology that we've developed over the years, we're downing hundreds of drones in the short periods of time over Ukraine, and it's using technologies that we have."
Maginnis: There are answers for this
Maginnis says defense establishments around the world all know how to perform counter drone operations.
"You can track those things on radar. You should know where they take off and where they land. They only have so much loiter time, so it's not as if they can stay above those communities for days on end. They have to come up and then go back down so it makes no sense to me quite frankly."
Maginnis says they're easy to shoot down.
“You don't have to use lead. You can use electronic beams. You can confuse them. And then all of a sudden, they're just down on the ground. We have the means to do that. Maybe the people up in New Jersey just don't know what technologies we have."
