Drones latest: Congress set for classified briefing about mysterious origins

Members of the House Intelligence Committee will receive a classified briefing Tuesday on the mysterious drone spottings, CNN reports.

Democratic Representative Jim Himes, a member of the committee, told Fox News over the weekend he’s frustrated with the current lack of information.

“There are a lot of us who are pretty frustrated right now,” Himes said. “The answer ‘we don’t know’ is not a good enough answer when people are anxious, when they are nervous, and this has been true since we’ve been a species on this planet.”

“It is not the Iranians, it is not the Chinese. They aren’t Martians,” he added.

At least one airport was forced to shut down or restrict activity late last week due to reported drone activity.

New York’s Stewart International Airport – about 60 miles outside New York City — closed its runways for an hour on Friday night after drones were reported overhead, according to CNN.

Officials at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio were forced to close their airspace because of drone activity at the same time, local outlet WHIO reports.

“To date, installation leadership has determined none of the incursions impacted base residents, facilities, or assets,” said Bob Purtiman, Chief of Public Affairs for the base.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to deploy “special drone-detection tech across NY and NJ.”

“And I’m working to pass a bill in the Senate to give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection,” Schumer added in a Sunday social media post.

Schumer wants the DHS to employ technology like Robin Radar Systems, a Netherlands-based firm specializing in drone tracking, CBS reports.

“If the technology exists for a drone to make it up into the sky, there certainly is the technology that can track the craft with precision and determine what the heck is going on,” Schumer said. “And that’s what the Robin does today.”

Police have made arrests connected to drone activity in San Francisco and Boston over the last week.

Officials arrested Yinpiao Zhou on December 9 at the San Francisco International Airport after they claimed he flew a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base while taking photos of the area.

“This defendant allegedly flew a drone over a military base and took photos of the base’s layout, which is against the law,” United States Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “The security of our nation is of paramount importance and my office will continue to promote the safety of our nation’s military personnel and facilities.”

Then, on Saturday night Boston police arrested Robert Duffy and Jeremy Folcik for flying drones “dangerously close” to Logan International Airport. Investigators are searching for a third suspect they believe fled the scene, according to a statement from the Boston Police Department.

“There is not any truth to that,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said last week of the Republican’s claims.

“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,” Singh added.

“It is not the Iranians, it is not the Chinese,” he said. “They aren’t Martians.”

President-elect Donald Trump accused President Joe Biden and his administration of keeping people “in suspense” over the drones spotted in several states.

“Our military knows, and our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense,” he said during a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate on Monday. “Something strange is going on and for some reason they don’t want to tell the people, and they should.”

Trump added that he did not want to comment on whether he received an intelligence briefing on the drones. House Intelligence Committee members will receive a classified briefing on the matter Tuesday, CNN reports.

MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has claimed that the US government is “in control of the drones” that have been spotted over New Jersey and New York in recent weeks, which officials have so far been unable or unwilling to account for.

Greene, who is well known for amplifying online conspiracy theories, wrote on X late on Saturday night: “The government is in control of the drones and refuses to tell the American people what is going on. It really is that bad.”

The congresswoman offered no evidence to support her claim but followed up with a second post, which went viral when it was shared by podcaster Joe Rogan, featuring a video from drone manufacturer John Ferguson.

Some of the drone spottings across several states in the US could be cases of “mistaken identity,” with residents unknowingly reporting legally-operated small aircraft, DHS and FBI officials have said.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also said some drones could be commercial.

The FBI has received some 5,000 tips regarding drone activity, but fewer than 100 were “deemed worthy of further investigative activity.” an agency spokesperson said over the weekend.