A multitude of drones, some of undetermined origins, have been flying over the skies of the United States for almost a month, creating a wave of panic among citizens.
Americans have the impression that heaven is playing a few pranks on them. Since November, residents of several states in the northeastern United States have noticed several drones flying over their homes at night. More than 5,000 reports have alerted American law enforcement to the scale of the phenomenon. The flying objects have notably been seen near critical infrastructure, raising fears of espionage.
In response, the American government wants to be reassuring. The drones seen in the United States present “no risk” to security, authorities assured this Tuesday, December 17.
• Drones observed in six states since November 18
The first drones were observed on November 18 in New Jersey. Residents have complained about the daily presence of drones, sometimes even in groups, above residential neighborhoods according to local media news12. Since then, Americans have seen other drones in five other states in the northeastern United States: New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Massachusetts.
On December 13, the New York police announced on X that they had received numerous reports of drones in less than 24 hours. She nevertheless specifies that she has “no evidence at this level that one of these reports could represent a public threat”. According to the BBC, American authorities have deployed a drone detection system at the request of Governor Kathy Hochul, who is encouraging other states concerned to do the same.
• Drones mostly authorized and not outside the United States
This night, several United States defense authorities published a press release on X. This mentions more than 5,000 reports on potential drones allowing the FBI to identify around a hundred leads.
By going through each report, the FBI specifies that some of them include “a combination of authorized commercial drones, enthusiast drones, law enforcement drones but also planes, helicopters and stars confused with drones “.
As for their origin, the White House and the Pentagon have confirmed that these are not drones coming from abroad. This statement comes in response to suspicions of Iranian or Chinese interference with these drones, suspicions spread by certain American politicians.
To more easily identify a potential threat, American Defense has initiated the deployment of advanced detection technology within the regions concerned. She also announced that trained human observers would be sent as reinforcements.
• No evidence of threat according to the FBI and the government
Despite a significant number of reports, the FBI and the American government are not warning of any risk relating to these drones. Still in the same press release: “We have not identified anything abnormal and for the moment no activity presents a risk to public and national security.”
“We have not detected anything unusual and do not believe that the activity to date presents a risk to national security or public safety in the airspace of New Jersey and other northern states. is,” said the federal police, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and the FAA (American aviation regulator) in a joint statement on Tuesday.
“Thousands of drones fly over the American sky every day,” Pat Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, already pointed out on Monday. “So it is not unusual to see drones in the sky, nor is it a sign of malicious activity or any threat to public safety. The same goes for drones flying near U.S. military installations.”
Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Homeland Security of the United States, also specifies on the Abcnews channel: “We deploy personnel, technology. If there is reason for concern, if we identify foreign involvement or criminal activity, we will communicate with the American public accordingly.”
Donald Trump, for his part, commented on the affair during a conference on Monday, December 16, describing the phenomenon as “something strange”. He affirms that “the government knows what is happening” and that these “drones do not come from the enemy (speaking of an external threat Editor’s note) because if it was the enemy, the American military would have already exploded the drones. On December 13, he even called on the Americans to shoot at drones (which is highly dangerous).
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