Biden administration downplays presence of unknown drones in several cities

White House, FBI and DHS officials offered details about the sighting of unknown drones in several cities. During a meeting with the media, they called Americans' concerns about the situation an "over-reaction."

However, they explained that further investigation is needed. An FBI official told reporters that the agency is working with 50 local, state and federal partners to investigate the reports.

"We're doing our best to find the origin of those drone activities, but I think there has been a slight over-reaction," the official said in statements picked up by VOA, which participated in the news conference.

In that regard, the official noted that fewer than 100 of the more than 5,000 reported sightings had turned out to merit further investigation.

"The combination of efforts so far ... to include technical equipment, tip line information and noted consults has ... not found any evidence to support large-scale [unmanned aerial systems] activities," he added.

The statement comes after several people posted images on social media of the unknown drones in places like New Jersey and New York.

In fact, Gov. Kathy Hochul pressed Joe Biden's administration for clarification on the mystery drones that have been flying over her state. The Empire State governor spoke out through a statement in which she called on Congress to act to pass the Anti-UAS Safety, Security and Authority Reauthorization Act, introduced in May of this year by a bipartisan group in Congress.

The New York governor released the statement Saturday afternoon, asserting that the drone situation has gone"too far." To solve the problem, Hochul called in the missive for Congress to pass legislation introduced by House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-Tenn.).