Reported drones include aircraft and stars, US officials say

WASHINGTON: Many of the reported drone sightings that have gripped the US appear to be of commercial, hobby and law enforcement drones as well as aircraft or stars, US officials said on Tuesday as they moved to bolster areas with more detection capabilities.

Fewer than 100 of the more than 5,000 reported sightings in New Jersey and other northeastern US states merit an investigation, officials at the US Defense Department, US Homeland Security Department, FBI and FAA said.

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The sightings, which began in mid-November, have created a social media frenzy. A Facebook group entitled “New Jersey Mystery Drones – let’s solve it” had nearly 75,000 members as of Monday, with people posting theories ranging from extraterrestrials to foreign actors.

US officials reiterated that there was no security or personal safety risk from the spate of reported drone activity.

The Biden administration is set to give members of the US House Intelligence Committee a classified briefing on the issue later on Tuesday, a Punchbowl reporter said on X. Representatives for the panel could not be immediately reached to comment on the report.

The latest statement from the officials, who have repeatedly said most of the large fixed-wing sightings involved manned aircraft, came after US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday called for more federal comment on the reported sightings.

“We recognize the concern among many communities,” the officials wrote in a statement. “We have sent advanced detection technology to the region. And we have sent trained visual observers.”

The agencies also called on Congress to pass legislation when it reconvenes in January that would give them more authority to identify and mitigate any drone threats, noting that there are already more than 1 million lawfully registered drones.

“There are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones lawfully in the sky on any given day. With the technology landscape evolving, we expect that number to increase over time,” they said.