On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Inside with Jen Psaki,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby said that it’s “difficult to say exactly why people are seeing so many” drones “in such a concentrated area.” And said that “it’s darker, longer now, and the skies have been pretty clear, at least of late. You look up there, you see this activity. And I’m sure a lot of it is drones, and drones don’t behave like what we’re used to seeing aircraft behave [like]” and the behavior of drones is “something new in the skies for many, many people, and they’re starting to see this and reporting it.”
Host Jen Psaki asked, [relevant exchange begins around 29:55] “I think the piece that seems to be freaking people out is the unusual concentration around New Jersey. What do you know about why that is?”
Kirby responded, “It’s difficult to say exactly why people are seeing so many in such a concentrated area. And, again, we’re still working with local authorities to kind of work our way through that. But I do think it was important to remind people about the sheer size and scale and scope of drone activity in the United States over the skies of cities all over the country. And, again, the vast majority of this is all legal. It’s all lawful. In fact, it’s very much good for the common good. A lot of these are law enforcement drones or commercial drones that are working on delivery of goods and services. So, I don’t exactly know why people are — why it’s all of a sudden an issue in New Jersey. Again, we’re still working our way through that. But, again, everything points to lawful and legal activity, no threat to the public’s safety, no threat to our national security, at least represented by what we’re seeing right now.”
Psaki then asked, “Why do you think people are so concerned? How do you explain that, at this point in time? Entirely valid to see drones coming out of the ocean, a high concentration, but how do you explain the level of concern out there?”
Kirby answered, “I think it’s a legitimate concern, Jen. You look up in the night sky, and, of course, it’s darker, longer now, and the skies have been pretty clear, at least of late. You look up there, you see this activity. And I’m sure a lot of it is drones, and drones don’t behave like what we’re used to seeing aircraft behave [like]…that’s something new in the skies for many, many people, and they’re starting to see this and reporting it. And I want to stress, Jen, that we want people to keep calling these things in, as you’re seeing them, let us know. There’s a tip line, use the tip line. Again, we’re taking this very seriously. We do understand that there’s concern, and, quite frankly, there’s a lot of curiosity about these things. We want to get to the bottom of it, the same as everybody. But, as I said, our assessment right now, to date, given all the work we’ve done in the last week or so tells us that these are legal and lawful aircraft activity.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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