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White House Reveals Origin of Mysterious US Drones — ‘Not the Enemy,’ Officials Confirm

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James Morales
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Key Takeaways
  • White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt commented on drone sightings over New Jersey.
  • The drones were authorized to be flown by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “for research and various other reasons,” Leavitt stated.
  • The FAA has authorized over a million commercial and recreational drones in the U.S.

In her first briefing as President Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt commented on last year’s New Jersey drone sightings that prompted a wave of conspiracy theories.

Echoing previous statements from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and former President Joe Biden, Leavitt said the drones were all authorized and “not the enemy.”

White House Says Drones Authorized by FAA

“After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,” Leavitt stated  in the press briefing.

“Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones,” she added, noting that rampant conspiratorialism had “got worse due to curiosity,” she added.

Authorities Downplay Drone Sightings

The latest comments from the White House follow a joint statement issued by the FAA, the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI on Dec. 17.

“The sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones,” the statement noted.

However, those reassurances did little to suppress online speculation.

Weighing in on the matter several days later, President Biden remarked  that “a lot of drones” are authorized by the FAA and that the sightings were “nothing nefarious.”

Federal law requires all drones weighing over 250g to be registered with the FAA, which says it has authorized over a million such unmanned aircraft.

Of these, over 400,000 are commercial drones, while around 386,000 are registered by recreational flyers.

How Drones Became Politicized

Leavitt’s latest comments raise an interesting question: Why did the White House reemphasize a point that the FAA, the Department of Defense, and the previous president had already made?

In December 2024, Donald Trump jumped on the drone sightings to criticize the government. Days after the FAA issued its explanation, he stated  that “something strange is going on” and “for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.”

A month later, the new administration simply echoed the official previous response, suggesting that the FAA was telling the truth all along or felt pressured to maintain the official line.

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James Morales

Although his background is in crypto and FinTech news, these days, James likes to roam across CCN’s editorial breadth, focusing mostly on digital technology. Having always been fascinated by the latest innovations, he uses his platform as a journalist to explore how new technologies work, why they matter and how they might shape our future.
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