“There has been a slight overreaction”: FBI refutes drone confusion
December 16, 2024
During a multi-agency joint press call held on Saturday (facilitated by the White House), US officials have refuted suggestions made by the mainstream media (and perpetuated on social platforms) that the plethora of drone sightings over New Jersey and the wider US may be malicious in intent. However, with investigations ongoing, senior administration authorities have nevertheless highlighted the importance of expanding authorities’ powers to deal with potential drone nuisances.
Commencing on 18 November, “multiple suspicious activity reports were generated… regarding unidentified and unknown subjects operating multiple unmanned aircraft, otherwise known as UAS, in the vicinity of critical infrastructure in the state of New Jersey,” an FBI spokesperson confirmed during the press call.
With the FBI Newark opening an investigation two days later, “extensive investigation work to determine if any threats or threat actors are behind them, or if they pose a threat to the public or national security” subsequently revealed that less than 100 of the some 5,000 leads generated were deemed worthy of further investigation. “The amount of drone activity is likely less than what’s being reported,” added a Department for Homeland Security official.
A senior administration spokesperson clarified that to date, no criminal activity, national security threat, any particular public safety threat or “malicious foreign actor” associated with the drones has yet been identified, although investigations remain ongoing.
The weekend press conference – held to “provide another opportunity to hear from the experts who are working every day to… let [the public] know the latest information” – could well have been orchestrated as a public rebuttal to some of the claims circulating on social media as to the drone’s apparent nefarious origin or intent. The day before, the Pentagon shut down US congressman Jeff Van Drew’s suggestion that the drones were part of a so-called Iranian ‘mothership’, while other conspiracy theories also appear to mislabel a blimp or other dirigible as an unidentified aerial phenomenon.
Authorities believe the density of reported sightings align with nighttime arrival patterns at Newark-Liberty, JFK and LaGuardia airports – “modelling indicative of manned aviation being quite often mistaken for unmanned aviation or UAS”. Additionally, on 13 December, the Federal Aviation Administration reiterated that “more and more people are using drones, which means more people are noticing them in the sky”. A spokesperson at Saturday’s briefing also confirmed that, “generally speaking, it is legal to fly a drone in most locations, both during the day and at night as long as you remain below 400ft and you keep those drones in sight at all times”. Airspace restrictions, mandated proximity from other aircraft, and weight categorisations also apply.
Although a Department of Defense official noted that there have been recent confirmed drone sightings at the military bases of Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Stations Earle – much like the ones recently reported over the US’ Ramstein Air Base in Germany – this is “something we routinely respond to,” they clarified.
Nevertheless, the spokesperson added that “[they] don’t have the same capabilities and the same methods that [the DoD] would deploy in other locations outside the homeland to determine points of origin and identify very quickly where these operators are located” before responding – instead highlighting the ongoing need to co-operate with civil law enforcement agencies. A senior administration official concluded that the ongoing situation highlights the “importance of expanding authorities”, with potential incoming legislation to allow state and local authorities to “take additional [counter-UAS] measures beyond what is currently authorised by the limited statutory grants”.
