Weeks of drone sightings in several states on the East Coast have left residents in a panic and local lawmakers demanding answers from the federal government. On Friday, President-elect Donald Trump weighed in with some alternatives: The government should let the public in on what it knows about the drones, or simply “shoot them down.” It wasn’t clear whether Trump was suggesting that the government or ordinary civilians do the shooting.
“Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “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!!!”
Sightings of unidentified flying objects at night have been reported in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. According to NBC News, the sightings have been ongoing for nearly a month.
The lack of clarity around what the aerial objects may be, where they are coming from and whether they pose a threat to national security or public safety has fueled unease over the sightings. The White House has said it has “no evidence at this time that these reported sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.”
Still, lawmakers from the Northeast have urged the Biden administration to provide answers about — or at least to help investigate — what those objects are and where they are coming from. On Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy asked the Biden administration for federal resources to get to “understand what is behind this activity.” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan wrote on X that he “personally witnessed (and videoed) what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky above my residence” for approximately 45 minutes on Thursday night and criticized the government’s “negligent response” to the sightings.
Drone activity even caused an approximately hourlong disruption at an airport in Orange County, New York, on Friday night, prompting Gov. Kathy Hochul to declare, “This has gone too far.”
Trump is not the only politician to suggest shooting the drones. Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, a Democrat, has said they should be “shot down, if necessary.” Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., has also called for the drones to be shot down and claimed that they were coming from an Iranian vessel off the East Coast, a suggestion the Defense Department rejected outright.
