Local officials in New Jersey are demanding answers from the government on the mysterious drones that have been spotted over the state in recent weeks—and some lawmakers say they should be shot down. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, said Thursday that the drones should be "shot down, if necessary," the AP reports. " The Biden administration ought to be acting more aggressively against these drones," he said. Republican US Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew, who represent Jersey Shore districts, have also called for the drones to be shot down, though the Pentagon has rejected Van Drew's claim that the drones are being launched by an Iranian "mothership" off the East Coast, NBC News reports.
"There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there's no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States," Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Wednesday. Dawn Fantasia, a New Jersey assemblywoman briefed by Homeland Security the same day, said the drones are up to 6 feet in diameter—larger than those normally used by hobbyists—and they appear to avoid radar detection, CNN reports. "We know nothing. PERIOD. To state that there is no known or credible threat is incredibly misleading," Fantasia said in a post on X.
Mayors who were at the same briefing said nobody from state or federal agencies could confirm how many drones had been spotted, NBC News reports. One mayor said sightings number in the thousands. Some drones have been seen near the Picatinny Arsenal military site, where officials say they had nothing to do with military testing, NJ.com reports. The FBI is investigating the sightings, but lawmakers are calling for more transparency. "Without transparency, I believe that rumors, fear, and misinformation will continue to spread," New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker said Thursday. (More drones stories.)
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