Trump and Pentagon clash over secrecy over mysterious drones

The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, stated on Monday that the Army “for some reason” is keeping secret details about the Unexplained drones that have been observed flying through the night skies in the east of the country, but the Pentagon quickly rejected his claim.

“Our military knows… something strange is happening,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. at his first press conference since his election to a new four-year term in the White House that begins next month.

After Trump spoke, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, told reporters that “there was no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a threat to national security or public safety.” , or that have a foreign nexus”.

“We are aware that there are public concerns and many questions,” Ryder said. “We are also committed to providing as much information as possible as quickly as possible on this issue,” he added.

The military has a reason not to shoot them down, Ryder said, offering a “vague analogy” to the unexplained cars that travel near military bases.

“On any given day, an unauthorized car or truck can approach one of the base gates, usually by accident,” Ryder said, and “99 percent of the time those cars are turned away without incident.”

“My point is that flying drones is not illegal,” Ryder said. “There are thousands of drones flying across the United States every day. It is not unusual to see them in the sky, nor is it an indication of malicious activity or a threat to public safety.”

For weeks now, residents of the state of New Jersey, which borders New York City, and other states to the north and south along the Atlantic Ocean coast have reported seeing more than 5,000 suspected drones, a figure which U.S. officials have concluded is grossly inflated.

They say most of the alleged drones are manned aircraft, and that fewer than 100 of the sightings need to be investigated further.

All sorts of conspiracy theories have been offered for the unexplained sightings, including the sending of drones by foreign countries and the deployment of drones launched by Iran from a mothership positioned off the coastal waters of the eastern United States.

In the last few days, Republican and Democratic officials have asked officials in President Joe Biden’s administration to be more frank in saying what they know about drones.

Republican Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida, who will become Trump’s national security adviser when he takes office on Jan. 20, told the show on Sunday Face the Nation of C.B.S.: “We need to get to the bottom of this.”

[Con el reporte de Ken Bredemeier y Jeff Seldin]

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