Reacting to a congressman’s claims last week about Iran’s involvement, retired navy commander Kirk Lippold tells AFN the involvement of Iran is very unlikely.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a New Jersey Republican, surprised many last week with the revelation he was informed by reliable intelligence sources that Iran is behind the drones that have been spotted in his state for weeks. Those sources described a vessel in the Atlantic from where highly technical drones are being launched and sent to the East Coast.
“Iran has never demonstrated the capability to do long-range maritime operations like that. They just don't have that capability,” Lippold, reacting to that scenario, says. “So for them to do it, I don't lend any credibility to it.”
Instead of Iran’s involvement, or even an Iran-China collaboration, Lippold predicts there is “more to the story” than the U.S. public is being told by the Pentagon and the Biden administration. The Pentagon is both claiming ignorance about the drones and their origin, he adds, but also insisting they pose no threat.
“Something doesn't smell right,” Lippold warns.
On Monday, in a press conference with reporters, President-elect Donald Trump was asked about the drone sightings.
"The government knows what is happening," he replied. "They know where it came from, and where it went, and for some reason they don't want to comment."
Among speculation online and on social media, many suspect the mysterious drones are no mystery to the Pentagon because they are property of the U.S. government. There is further speculation the drones are so-called “nuke sniffers” that are searching the East Coast for nuclear materials, such as a dirty bomb.
A video published on social media, which has now gone viral, features a man who claims to be the CEO of a drone manufacturing company. The video went viral because the man, John Ferguson, speculates the drones are searching for radioactive material.
AFN has confirmed the man in the video is the CEO of Saxon Unmanned, a drone company based in Kansas, but AFN obviously cannot confirm his claims about the reason for the drone activity.
Michael B, a New Jersey drone operator and podcaster, told Fox News he was attempting to monitor a second drone near a U.S. Army facility but his drone mysteriously lost power and fell. The other drone remained in the air, he said.
In another Fox News interview, a former CIA officer concluded the drones are U.S. government property and are part of a "classified exercise" hence the secrecy.
