A New Jersey mayor is calling out White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby for his latest remarks on the purported drones flying through U.S. airspace.
“That is ridiculous. I would invite Mr. Kirby to Mine Hill. Come on out, Mr. Kirby, and let’s go on out one night at about 9:30, 10:00,” Mine Hill Township Mayor Sam Morris told ABC News Thursday.
“Mr. Kirby just called the security people at Picatinny Arsenal liars, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department liars, and the state police in New Jersey liars,” he elaborated on “The Evening Edit” Friday.
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Kirby said Thursday that a number of the purported drone sightings spotted over New Jersey for the past several weeks appear to be piloted aircraft.
“We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus,” Kirby told reporters at the White House press briefing. “The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating these sightings, and they’re working closely with state and local law enforcement to provide resources using numerous detection methods to better understand their origin.”
“Using very sophisticated electronic detection technologies provided by federal authorities, we have not been able to, and neither have state or local law enforcement authorities, corroborate any of the reported visual sightings,” he said. “To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft that are being operated lawfully. The United States Coast Guard is providing support to the state of New Jersey, and has confirmed that there is no evidence of any foreign-based involvement from coastal vessels. And importantly, there are no reported or confirmed drone sightings in any restricted airspace.”
Morris said he doesn’t understand “why Mr. Kirby would say all three of those entities are not telling the truth,” claiming it appears the White House does not want to “deal” with the situation.
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The drones were first reported around Nov. 18, and have been spotted every night since, flying from dusk to about 11 p.m. Reports have ranged from four to 180 sightings per night, according to New Jersey Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, who relayed a briefing given by law enforcement.
More than three weeks after dozens of purported drones began appearing in the New Jersey night sky, the public has still been offered no clear insight on what the phenomenon actually is.
Lawmakers and experts have floated a number of theories on the drone sightings, but Morris speculated the drone mystery could be a “publicity stunt.”
“There is a bigger and bigger part of me that thinks that this is some kind of a publicity stunt,” he told FOX Business’ Elizabeth MacDonald. “Part of me thinks that it may be some kind of military contractor who wants to popularize their drones. They may be some company with super high-tech or something that thinks they’re impressing people.”
Morris also addressed concerns that a foreign entity may be operating the mystery drones.
“If whatever this is was trying to hurt us, and people are very scared about that, I believe that they would have done it, and they would have done it in more stealth,” he concluded.
Fox News’ Michael Ruiz, Julia Bonavita, Danielle Wallace, Louis Casiano, David Spunt and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
