What just happened? People living in and around New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and other nearby states may remember the strange drone sightings that had everyone on edge late last year. After all, they appeared almost every night for weeks. Now, the White House has finally put the speculation to rest with an official explanation, but not everyone is convinced.
In her first official press briefing on Tuesday, President Trump's new press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, revealed that the drones had simply been authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration for research purposes. Additionally, many of them belonged to regular citizens living in those areas.
"This was not the enemy," Leavitt stated bluntly, referring to the frenzied online rumors that had been swirling about the unidentified drones being some kind of threat.
According to FAA records, the drone sightings first began on November 18 in Morris County, New Jersey. From there, they appeared to spread rapidly, with residents reporting nightly clusters of drones in the skies over the following weeks across New Jersey and several neighboring states.
Of course, this caused quite a stir, with the FBI receiving over 5,000 tips from concerned citizens. A few arrests were even made for operating drones too close to restricted airspace in Massachusetts and California.
It's worth noting that the previous Biden administration had already determined there was no real national security threat and that many of the drones were simply being misidentified by the public. Now, Trump's team has gone a step further in clarifying the situation, revealing the FAA's role in approving at least some of the drones.
Not everyone is convinced, though. New Jersey Assemblyman Brian Bergen, who had been vocal throughout the drone saga, told NewsNation that the White House's explanation "makes no sense." As he pointed out, anything in restricted airspace would already require FAA authorization
"I just want somebody normal to get up in front of us and give us the truth, the straight truth, no canned response, no carefully chosen words, no dancing around it," Bergen stated, clearly still skeptical. "If it's the FAA doing research, what research? If it's some other entity, whatever other entity it is. We want someone just to be normal for once and give us the truth."
Ocean County Sheriff Mike Mastronardi echoed similar concerns, warning that a lack of transparency could cause unnecessary public alarm.
Of course, the FAA regulates and authorizes all sorts of drone operations across the country, with over a million registered for commercial and recreational use. Research drones wouldn't be unusual. But more transparency about the actual nature and purpose of this specific "research" could have alleviated public fears much sooner.
White House sheds light on New Jersey drone sightings, but not everyone is convinced
