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House Foreign Affairs chair claims unidentified drones are ‘spy drones’ from…

Dec 18, 2024 04:30 PM IST

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul expressed concerns over unidentified drones over New Jersey and New York.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul raised concerns on Tuesday, suggesting that some of the unidentified drones spotted over New Jersey and New York could be "spy drones" from China. His statement came after Biden administration officials downplayed the sightings, insisting that many of the drones in question were harmless commercial aircraft.

Drones have been spotted over Naval Weapons Station Earle, prompting safety concerns in New Jersey. (MartyA45_ /TMX via AP)(AP)
Drones have been spotted over Naval Weapons Station Earle, prompting safety concerns in New Jersey. (MartyA45_ /TMX via AP)(AP)

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Unidentified drones are ‘believed’ to be from China

Before a classified briefing by the executive branch officials to members of the House Intelligence Committee, McCaul (R-Texas) shared with the reporters, “We want answers but the response I’m getting is we don’t know whose drones these are. I was with the NASA administrator, Bill Nelson, he said that these drones have been reported over military sites, military bases. I would not think those are friendly. I would think those are adversarial,” as reported by The New York Post.

He continued, “We need to identify who is behind these drones. My judgment based on my experience is that those that are over our military sites are adversarial and most likely are coming from the People’s Republic of China.” McCaul added, “I believe they’re spy drones and the PRC and communist China is very good at this stuff. We know they bought land around military bases. This would be very consistent with their policy over the past couple years. We’re not getting answers and I think it’s because our government does not know who is behind them and that is very disturbing to me.”

He concluded, “They seem to think that most of them are American-based commercial. It’s the ones over the military bases that I can't explain and they can’t either.”

The sightings of unidentified drones over New Jersey and New York have sparked growing public concern. These drones have been reported near sensitive locations, including New Jersey's Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle. On Sunday, a drone sighting near Stewart International Airport in New York led to a temporary closure of the airport, adding to the anxiety surrounding these mysterious aircraft.

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Authorities downplay concerns over mysterious drones

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other officials have downplayed concerns over recent drone sightings, attributing many of them to commercial drones or fixed-wing aircraft. The White House has acknowledged uncertainty about the surge in sightings, while a joint statement from the FBI, FAA, Pentagon, and Department of Homeland Security on Monday reassured the public, stating there was little cause for concern.

The agencies said, “We assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones.” Last week, White House spokesman John Kirby alleged that authorities “have not been able to, and neither have state and local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings," as reported by The New York Post.

Meanwhile, Biden and his subordinates were accused of covering up the drone sightings by president-elect Donald Trump. He said, “Look, our military knows where they took off from — if it’s a garage, they can go right into that garage. They know where it came from and where it went, and for some reason, they don’t want to comment.”

Trump continued, “I can’t imagine it’s the enemy. Because if it was the enemy, they’d blast it out — even if they were late, they’d blast it. Something strange is going on. For some reason they don’t want to tell the people, and they should.”

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