White House says no risk after Trump decries drone ‘suspense’
Hindustan TimesThe White House said that a law enforcement assessment of the thousands of reported drone sightings in New Jersey and other Northeastern states found no reason for alarm, after President-elect Donald Trump suggested the US government was keeping Americans “in suspense” over the sightings. “We assess that 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 even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “We have not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey, or other states in the Northeast.” Kirby said that of more than 5,000 tips to the FBI in recent weeks, the agency felt the need to follow up on 100 reported incidents. But the White House is also planning to call for a new bipartisan task force “to examine congestion in the skies and to help set appropriate rules to address the public’s concerns,” Kirby added.