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President Joe Biden broke his silence on the mysterious drones spotted flying over the Northeastern United States recently, claiming there was "no sense of danger" while addressing reporters at the White House Tuesday (December 17).
“Nothing nefarious apparently, but they’re checking it all out,” Biden said via the New York Post.
“We’re following this closely, but so far no sense of danger,” he added.
“There’s a lot of drones authorized up there,” Biden said. “I think one started it and they all — everybody wanted to get in the deal,” he opined, presumably referring to a “copycat” theory that has been floated as a possible source for the deluge of drone sightings.
Biden's comments came one day after President-elect Donald Trump accused him and other government officials of hiding information related to the drone mystery.
“The government knows what is happening,” Trump said during a lengthy press conference in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday (December 16) via the New York Post after the Biden administration had publicly claimed to be unaware of the drones' origin.
“Look, our military knows where they took off from — if it’s a garage, they can go right into that garage," he added. "They know where it came from and where it went, and for some reason they don’t want to comment. “And I think they’d be better off saying what it is. Our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.”
Trump also refused to comment whether he was personally briefed on the drones when asked by a reporter.
"I don't want to comment on that," he responded.
“I can’t imagine it’s the enemy,” Trump later added. “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,” he continued. “For some reason they don’t want to tell the people, and they should.”
Federal officials will deploy a high-tech drone detection system to New York State to counter swarms of mysterious flying objects. The detection system will help state and local authorities investigate into the mysterious drones that have been reported to be flickering in the night sky during the past month, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced.
“In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system to New York State,” Hochul said via the New York Post.
The governor said Congress would need to approve any greater resources being implemented in identifying the mysterious drones.
“We are grateful to the Biden Administration for their support, but ultimately we need further assistance from Congress. Passing the Counter-UAS Authority Security, Safety, and Reauthorization Act will give New York and our peers the authority and resources required to respond to circumstances like we face today,” she said via the New York Post.
The drones have been spotted along the East Coast, primarily in New Jersey, which has had at least 3,000 sightings reported in December alone, though there have been sightings reported as early as November 18. The administration claimed the unidentified objects were planes or helicopters being mistaken for drones, while some experts warned that they could be coming from an adversary, though the Pentagon denied these claims and authorities reaffirmed that there is no known threat stemming from their presence.