The White House said Tuesday the drones that captured public attention during flights over New Jersey late in 2024 were federally sanctioned and not cause for alarm.
"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," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a conference with reporters on Tuesday.
Leavitt also said some drones were privately or recreationally flown.
But Leavitt did not immediately provide additional details about the flights.
RELATED STORY | What's going on with all the drone sightings in New Jersey? The FBI doesn't know
The mystery flights drew public and federal scrutiny late in 2024. FBI officials told Congress at the time they didn't know where the drones had come from or who they belonged to.
Sightings poured in from across the state: Drones were spotted over waterways, over U.S. military installations and over a golf course owned by President Donald Trump. Several other states also reported sightings of unidentified drones.
Port St Lucie
Drones in our skies? Residents share accounts of what they've been seeing
The Pentagon said the drones were not military aircraft and did not represent a threat to Americans, but some lawmakers called for them to be downed out of safety concerns.
While he was President-elect, Trump claimed without offering evidence that the government understood the nature and origins of the drone flights.
"The government knows what is happening," he told reporters at the time. "And for some reason, they don't want to comment."
