The Pentagon is denying claims that recent mysterious drone sightings along the U.S. East Coast are connected to an Iranian “mothership.”
Dozens of drone sightings across New Jersey since mid-November have drawn attention due to their proximity to sensitive locations, including Picatinny Arsenal military research facility and President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf course. On a single Sunday, residents reported 49 separate drone sightings. When pressed for information, NJ Governor Phil Murphy simply said that the drones don’t appear to pose a public safety concern.
However, rumors of Iranian involvement quickly became front-page news headlines after congressman Jeff Van Drew claimed that he had heard from “high sources” that drones were being launched from an Iranian vessel in the Atlantic.
“That mothership is off the East Coast of the United States of America. They’ve launched drones into everything that we can see or hear,” Van Drew told Fox News. “These are from high sources. I don’t say this lightly.”
The congressman dismissed suggestions of either federal government or a “really glorified hobbyist” being responsible, arguing that the drones’ technological capabilities far exceeded what private individuals could access.
“The third possibility was somebody, an adversarial country, doing this. Know that Iran made a deal with China to purchase drones, motherships and technology in order to go forward,” he said.
Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh addressed the speculation head-on during a Wednesday briefing.
“There is no truth to that,” Singh asserted. “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.”
Following a Department of Homeland Security briefing, New Jersey assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia called the Pentagon’s assessment “incredibly misleading,” noting that the drones measure up to 6 feet in diameter and exhibit sophisticated capabilities, such as the ability to evade traditional detection methods like helicopter and radio tracking.
On Tuesday, FBI Assistant Director Robert Wheeler Jr. confirmed that while an active investigation is underway, the agency has yet to determine who is responsible for the drone operations.
