Strange lights in the sky over New Jersey is seen in New York, United States on December 18, 2024.Photo:Anadolu via Getty
Anadolu via Getty
“In time, it got worse due to curiosity,” Leavitt said, reading a statement from PresidentDonald Trump. “This was not the enemy.”
When reached for comment, the Federal Aviation Administration deferred PEOPLE to the White House.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 28, 2025. At 27-years-old, Leavitt is the youngest White House Press Secretary in history.ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty
ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty
Alimited state of emergencywas issued in December banning the use of all drones until the public received an explanation about the sightings, which began in November.
In ajoint statementreleased on Dec. 13, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said the aircrafts are being “operated lawfully” and that there currently “are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted air space. "
Law enforcement did not uncover any “malicious activity or intent” in connection with the sightings, and there was “no evidence” of a possible national security or public safety threat, they added.
A few days later, theagencies saidmany of the objects reportedly sighted above New Jersey were actually “manned aircraft being misidentified as drones.”
At the time, a DHS official said authorities had “not identified any basis for believing that there’s any criminal activity involved, that there’s any national security threat, that there’s any particular public safety threat or that there’s a malicious foreign actor involved in these drones,”CNBC,NewsweekandThe Guardianreported at the time.
Senator Andy Kim films moving lights in the sky.Andy Kim/X
Andy Kim/X
TheFBI previously saidit received 5,000 reports about the drone sightings through mid-December.
Before taking office, then-President-elect Trump claimed on Dec. 16 that the U.S. government “knows what is happening” regarding the drone sightings, according toFox News.
The next day, then-PresidentJoe Bidensaid the drones were “nothing nefarious” and claimed there was “no sense of danger,“NBC Newsreported
source: people.com
