The White House, in coordination with the FBI and other officials, has determined that the mysterious drones recently reported across the country are “legal” and “lawful.” National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby made this statement Monday during an interview with Fox News anchor Bret Baier on Special Report.
Kirby explained that their investigation of approximately 5,000 drone sightings revealed that the activity primarily involves “lawful, legal, commercial hobbyist and even law enforcement aircraft activity.” He noted, “Some of it’s manned, some of it’s unmanned. We absolutely acknowledge that a lot of these are probably drones, but they’re flying legally.” He added that in non-restricted airspace, registered drone flights are permissible under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidelines.
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder also provided context, stating that over 1 million drones are registered with the FAA in the United States. On any given day, more than 8,000 drones are lawfully flown.
The FBI’s Newark office established a national tip line in early December to handle reports of drone sightings in New Jersey. Since December 3, they received around 5,000 tips, but only fewer than 100 cases warranted further investigation. Kirby emphasized, “We’ve done the detection and the analysis. We’ve corroborated the sightings. And in every case that we have examined to date, we have seen nothing that indicates a public safety risk.”
The investigation has not identified any foreign threats or national security risks, although Kirby acknowledged instances of drones flying over military bases. The Department of Defense (DOD) is actively reviewing these incidents. Kirby assured, “This is an ongoing investigation. We’re still working our way through this. Sightings continue to come in. We’ve taken them all seriously and we’ll continue to look at this.”
Drone activity has increased significantly with technological advances and commercial use. While concerns about security and privacy persist, officials maintain that the majority of recent sightings are lawful. The White House’s findings seek to address public anxiety over unexplained drone flights and reassure Americans of the absence of imminent security threats.
