Pentagon officials know drones are flying over major military installations and cities. They don’t know their origin. Defense spokespersons insist the drones are not owned by the US Military, but these same officials told the press they’re certain US adversaries are not involved. If the Defense Department does know there are drones but doesn’t know whose they are, how can Pentagon experts be confident they are not adversaries spying on US facilities? It’s easy to see how this logic goes off the rails.
Drones Are More Plentiful in the Skies Over America
As hobbyists, corporations, and the military are making drones more ubiquitous throughout America’s skies, drone sightings are equally numerous. Most such sightings are easily explained, but an increasing number are not. Liberty Nation News reported: “Up to a dozen drones were seen flying over East Coast military installations for approximately 17 days in December 2023. As of yet, there is no good explanation for the squad of aircraft that orbited a major military base,” which is none other than Langley Air Force Base, where America’s premier air supremacy jet fighter, the F-22, is kept.
Similarly, the skies over New Jersey have recently been filled with large drones for which there is no explanation. The Daily Caller revealed:
“Residents are increasingly worried about unidentified drones swarming New Jersey’s skies, one witness told The Daily Caller. Now, the FBI is reportedly investigating the strange phenomena. The drones were seen in Morris and Somerset counties. Some have speculated the drones are foreign spies or stalkers of President-elect Donald Trump, one resident told CBS News.”
The latest speculation on the origin and ownership of the mysterious aerial interlopers is that the drones are flown over the US by an adversary for surveillance purposes. On a recent Fox News program, Congressman Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) claimed to have it on reliable authority that the drones were launched by an Iranian “mother ship” having sailed to a location off the Eastern Coast of the US. Furthermore, Van Drew claimed that the Iranian seaborne launching platform had been there for about a month.
“Iran made a deal with China to purchase drones, mother ship, and technology in order to go forward,” Van Drew told Fox News on Wednesday, December 11. “The sources I have are good. They can’t reveal who they are because they are speaking to me in confidentiality. These drones should be shot down,” Van Drew said, reflecting the level of frustration his constituents are feeling.
Just hours after Van Drew made his claim, during a Defense Department press conference, Fox News Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin asked Defense Department Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh about Iran and the drone dispensing mother ship. Without a moment of hesitation, Singh dismissed the story, saying:
“At this time, we have no evidence that these activities are coming from a foreign entity or the work of an adversary. We’re going to continue to monitor what is happening. But you know, at no point were our installations threatened when this activity was occurring … There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there’s no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States.”
Nearly coinciding with Singh’s denial that drone activities are the work of foreign adversaries, federal authorities arrested Chinese national Yinpiao Zhou, a 39-year-old man attempting to board a commercial airplane at San Francisco International Airport bound for China. The US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California detained Zhou for “allegedly flying a drone over and taking photographs of Vandenberg Space Force Base,” a Justice Department press release explained.
The Beijing Balloon Should Be Fresh in Americans’ Memories
Remember the Beijing spy balloon the Pentagon did not bother telling the American people about? The story only came out when people looked at the sky and saw the surveillance craft. Only then did the Biden administration fess up to the balloon being Chinese. The Pentagon officials denied that any military bases were compromised despite the balloon traversing over numerous sensitive military sites.
Maybe the Pentagon might want to be more cautious in its assertions that America’s enemies are not flying drones over our cities and military installations. Perhaps it’s not Iran and a “mother ship” launching drones over New Jersey, Langley Air Force Base, and myriad other military and national security facilities. But someone is. It would be helpful for American citizens to have some idea of what their government is doing to identify who’s behind the drone flights. Claiming that US enemies are not behind the drone sightings while US law enforcement officials are arresting a Chinese citizen for flying a drone over a military base casts serious doubt on the claim.
Such assertions by government officials do not build confidence in the Defense Department to know what is going on that might be a threat. It will not be surprising if bumper stickers start showing up. “Remember the Balloon.”
The views expressed are those of the author and not of any other affiliate.
