President-elect Donald Trump on Friday weighed in on a weekslong search for answers about sightings of mysterious drone-like objects flying over New Jersey, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Connecticut, suggesting—without providing evidence—that the government may be shielding information from the public about the drones and calling for them to be shot down if that’s not the case.
Trump took to Truth Social on Friday afternoon, posting “Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!’
The call to shoot down the objects, first spotted in New Jersey in mid-November, echoes the calls of frustrated lawmakers who’ve lamented what they call a lack of urgency in the government’s response to the situation.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said Thursday “We should be doing some very urgent intelligence analysis and take them out of the skies, especially if they’re flying over airports or military bases.”
Trump also isn’t the first politician to suggest the government knows more than it’s saying—Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said at a press conference Friday that she does not believe the U.S., “with its military capabilities, does not know what these objects are” and called on federal officials to “be straight with us and just tell us what is going on.”
In the weeks since the first sightings, social media users have reported hundreds of sightings of the objects, with one describing the drones as “large and loud,” and people have posted videos showing lit objects hovering in the sky at night.
The White House on Thursday downplayed the sightings and John Kirby, the White House’s national security communications adviser, said the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and state and local law enforcement agencies “have not been able to corroborate any of the reported visual sightings” of the drones.
The FBI and DHS said in a statement they have discovered “no evidence at this time” of “malicious activity” in New Jersey or a “national security or public safety threat.”
