Trump calls for mysterious drones flying over New York and New Jersey to be 'shot down'

Donald Trump expressed his opinion on Truth Social about the mysterious drones that have been flying over some states such as New Jersey and New York. Specifically, the president-elect called to shoot them down and suggested that the Federal Government must have more information that they have not yet released.

"Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shot them down!!! DJT" Trump wrote on the aforementioned social network.

Mike Johnson, speaker of the House of Representatives, received a briefing Friday morning about the nature of drones.

Recently, a group of Democratic senators wrote a letter demanding that federal authorities hold a briefing on the origin of the drones.

"Since late November, communities in the New York City area and northern New Jersey have reported several incidents of unattributable drone sightings at night, alarming both residents and local law enforcement," reads the missive signed by Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Cory Booker (D-NJ)and Andy Kim (D-NJ).

"In addition to potential privacy concerns raised by these aerial systems, we are also especially concerned about how these drones may harm public safety," they continued, also adding that drones have been spotted near "critical infrastructure and sensitive locations."

New York State experienced a considerable increase in drone sightings in recent hours. This was confirmed by the State Police in a statement.

However, they assured that they are not aware that these devices pose a threat to the state's neighbors. "At this time we have no evidence that any of the reported sightings pose a security threat," they said in the message.

As for the number of drones registered in the United States, according to the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) there were 790,000 registered drones in October and nearly 400,000 commercial drones.

Mayorkas: Nothing to see here

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas tried to downplay the sightings. "We have not seen anything unusual. We know of no threat or of any nefarious activity," he told CNN on Friday.

Mayorkas explained that it's common for small aircraft to be mistaken for drones from the ground and noted that there can be cases of "duplication," where multiple people report the same flying object. However, in what seemed like a contradiction, he also stated that some sightings initially identified as drones were, in fact, small aircraft, and that teams sent to the area had not confirmed any drone sightings.

"We have not seen drones turn their lights off in the dark. We have not seen drones penetrate restricted airspace. Those are two indicia that would give us a cause for concern," he also said. "We haven’t seen anything unusual. We know of no threat."

Despite his denials and pleas, Mayorkas blamed Congress for not giving him "more authority to counter drone activity." The powers of both federal and state and local authorities, he argued, "need to be expanded."