White House: Drones Are Legal, Sightings Over Bases Are ‘Different Category’, No ‘Disruption of Operations’ in NJ

On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby stated that the assessment of the reported drone sightings is that there’s no safety risk and the activity is legal, and there have been sightings “over some military bases, we’re obviously looking at that, that is a different category, and DOD has different authorities to deal with that. But, again, we’ve also seen no disruption of operations at our bases in New Jersey, either, from any of this.”

Kirby stated, “[I]n every case that we have examined to date, we have seen nothing, nothing that indicates a public safety risk. There are drones flying over the skies of the United States every single night, every single day. And we’ve seen nothing in and around New Jersey that should give the people on the ground there concerns for their safety for this activity. And we’ve seen nothing working with the Department of Defense as well, that indicates a foreign adversary actor involved or any kind of pernicious national security threat. Now, there have been some drone sightings, I think, as you know, over some military bases, we’re obviously looking at that, that is a different category, and DOD has different authorities to deal with that. But, again, we’ve also seen no disruption of operations at our bases in New Jersey, either, from any of this.”

Later, Kirby added that the investigation is ongoing.

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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