A New Jersey congressman claimed Wednesday that the mystery drones over the Garden State are from Iran, and they’re being launched by a mothership parked off the East Coast.
Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a Republican, said the drones “very possibly could be” from Iran, citing confidential sources during an appearance on Fox News Wednesday morning.
“I’m going to tell you the real deal. Iran launched a mothership that contains these drones,” Van Drew said. “It’s off the East Coast of the United States of America. They’ve launched drones.”
“These drones should be shot down,” he said, adding that “the military is on full alert with this.”
The Pentagon has later rebuked Van Drew’s claims, insisting there is “no evidence” the drones belong to a foreign adversary – but did not offer any explanation whatsoever as to what they actually are.
Van Drew has stood by his statements, however, sending a letter to President Biden imploring him to take action and laying out “circumstantial evidence” supporting his claims.
“We have information that a sea-based Iranian drone mothership is currently missing from port, and that its embarkation timeline would align with the appearance of the New Jersey Drones,” he wrote the president in a letter obtained by Agudath Israel of America news.
He added that Iran has previously sailed ships near the US, and that the country has a “sophisticated” partnership with China over drone technology.
“And of course, it is the policy of the Iranian government to bring about the destruction of the United States of America. While I remain open to alternate explanations, I have not been presented a single credible, cohesive narrative except for that Iran is controlling these drones,” Van Drew wrote.
Van Drew’s startling claim comes as officials have continually told Americans the drones pose no threat – even as the FBI has admitted they have no idea what they are or how to stop them.
The large drones have been spotted flitting across the night skies across Jersey for weeks, baffling residents with mysterious arrays of flashing lights and seemingly aimless movements.
Sometimes numerous objects have been spotted flying in formation, and they’ve begun appearing across parts of New York, too.
The first reported sightings started on November 18, and have continued every night since, according to New Jersey Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia, who partook in a legislature briefing with the State Police Wednesday.
Sightings have been reported from dawn through dusk, she said, with sometimes as many as 180 reports coming in per night. Last Sunday alone, there were 49 reported sightings, mostly in New Jersey.
And their technology appears to be particularly sophisticated. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy explained that every time officials begin trying to track them, the drones “go dark.”
Officials say the drones are about six feet in diameter, stay in the air for up to seven hours at a time, and can cover at least 15 miles.
“To state that there is no known or credible threat is incredibly misleading, and I informed all officials of that sentiment,” Fantasia wrote in a post on X.
Addressing them has also become a bureaucratic snafu, Fantasia noted, explaining that the State Police doesn’t have the jurisdiction to intercept them in the skies, that the FBI is leading the investigation with the Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, and that the US Coast Guard seems to have the most authority to intervene.
Rep. Van Drew said intelligence indicates Iran recently made a deal with China “to purchase drones, motherships, and technology,” and that the mothership containing them arrived off the east coast “about a month ago.”
“We’ve got to get them down,” Van Drew said. “Right now, they’re probably extracting information. This is a clear and present danger to the United States and our president elect, and this is a serious business.”
One high ranking Jersey State Police source said everybody is “befuddled” – and that nobody knows “what the f–k is going on.”
“The lack of a coordinated response is troubling,” the source told The Post. “I have never had anything in my time where no one knows what’s going on. But no one seems that concerned but the people who do national intelligence, the FAA, FBI.”
Speculation about the objects’ origins has ranged from Chinese spy operations — to visitors from other planets — to top-secret experimental military tech operated by the US government itself.
US military officials have reportedly insisted the drones do not belong to them or any secret operations, which Gov. Murphy said “I want to believe, but…” during a briefing with state lawmakers Wednesday.
“If anyone really knows they are not telling us,” Murphy said, “They keep doubling down on ‘There’s no threat,’ but they can’t find them and track them.”
“But when people are saying that there is no credible threat, I believe they are saying they don’t know if there is one. That’s concerning.”
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