Steve Bannon pushed a new conspiracy theory that Joe Biden could somehow be behind the recent drone sightings over New Jersey as part of a deliberate effort to ‘work against’ the United States and president-elect Donald Trump.
The former Trump advisor told an audience at the New York Young Republican Club’s 112th Annual Gala that the ‘Biden regime… every day is working against the country and against President Trump’.
He cited the administration’s record on Ukraine and Syria before adding, sensationally: ‘And hey, I don’t know. Are they the guys who got the drones over New Jersey?’
There is nothing to suggest the Biden administration is controlling the mystery objects flying over the East Coast, and the White House’s national security communications advisor John Kirby has insisted that the sightings pose no ‘national security or public safety threat’.
But the government’s lack of clear explanation on the sightings, ongoing since November 18, has provoked fierce criticism from Republicans and Democrats alike.
A New Jersey mayor also raised concern when he revealed his fire department was told to wear hazmat suits in case the flying objects crashed.
New Jersey officials and federal investigators have been beleaguered by reports of inexplicable apparent aircraft, some as big a cars, conducting bizarre, unscheduled night flights over sensitive sites across the state.
Swarms of drones have been spotted in the skies of New Jersey for weeks, sparking officials to call for a ‘limited state of emergency’
Steve Bannon speaks during the New York Young Republican Club’s annual gala at Cipriani Wall Street, Sunday, December 15
Bannon cited the administration’s record on Ukraine and Syria before adding, sensationally: ‘And hey, I don’t know. Are they the guys who got the drones over New Jersey?’
Speaking on Sunday, Bannon said: ‘I do want to say one thing to the Biden regime. The Biden regime every day is working against the country and President Trump.
‘They’re exacerbating the problems in Ukraine. They’re exacerbating the problems in Syria, in the Middle East. They’re exacerbating the problems with the Chinese Communist Party.
‘They’re, they’ve shipped all our ammo out. And hey, I don’t know, are they the guys who got the drones over New Jersey?’
For its part, the DoD released a statement on December 14 addressing the recent sightings.
A spokesperson for the Joint Staff confirmed there had been sightings at the sensitive Picatinny Arsenal research facility but played down the significance.
‘We have had confirmed sightings at Picatinny Arsenal and Naval Weapons Station Earle,’ the spokesperson said.
‘This is not a new issue for us. We’ve had to deal with drone incursions over our bases for quite a time now. It’s something that we routinely respond to in each and every case when reporting is cited.’
The spokesperson assured the bases have ‘means’ to detect and respond to drones, and that security on site are trained to identify and employ ‘tools’ to keep drones from flying over U.S. bases without authorization.
They did admit they do not yet know who is behind the mysterious sightings.
‘To date, we have no intelligence or observations that would indicate that they were aligned with a foreign actor or that they had malicious intent,’ the spokesperson said.
‘But … we don’t know. We have not been able to locate or identify the operators or the points of origin.’
Monmouth County is home to the Naval Weapons Station Earle, a navy base. Experts have mused that foreign powers could be targeting areas like this which harbor intelligence and weapons bases. (Pictured: points of interest in NJ where drones have been seen overhead)
Mysterious drones are terrorizing US cities from coast to coast as the eerie objects have now been spotted in California, Massachusetts, Florida, Wyoming, Maryland, New York and New Jersey. Pictured: A New Jersey resident saw what appears to be multiple drones flying over their Bernardsville home
Lawmakers have been quick to demand action, with Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer demanding the DHS ‘deploy special drone-detection’ over New Jersey and New York.
‘I’m pushing for answers amid these drone sightings. I’m calling for [Secretary Mayorkas] to deploy special drone-detection tech across NY and NJ,’ he wrote on X.
‘And I’m working to pass a bill in the Senate to give local law enforcement more tools for drone detection.’
Alejandro Mayorkas’ Department of Homeland Security is indeed now set to deploy drone detection systems to New Jersey and New York after weeks of drone sightings across the region.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul wrote: ‘In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are sending a drone detection system to New York.’
‘I am grateful for the support, but we need more. Congress must pass a law that will give us the power to deal directly with the drones,’ she warned.
Mayorkas, who confirmed the federal government does not have the authority to take out drones in an interview Sunday, said some form of help is coming.
‘We understand why residents are concerned. In response and in close coordination with the [New Jersey State Police] and other law enforcement, [Homeland Security] quickly deployed personnel and technology to support.’
He clarified that so far, despite many theories to the contrary, DHS has found no link between the drones and any foreign government.
The sightings started mid-November with footage capturing ‘car-sized’ drones with flashing lights
New Jersey residents and local officials are demanding answers as reports of mysterious drones flying over the state have climbed into the thousands
Officials in Monmouth County, where residents reported 63 sightings over the time period, have shared a heatmap showing where the unmanned aircraft appear to be circulating
Sen. Jon Bramnick has since called for a state of emergency as he derided what he said was a lack of government transparency over the unexplained drone sightings.
‘Whatever these drones are doing, the government really doesn’t want us to know,’ he told NewsNation on Saturday, urging the DoD to ‘come clean with the American public’ following a string of appearances since November.
‘There must be something going on that they can’t tell us because they’re so fearful of what the public’s gonna do when they hear what the drones are doing,’ the Republican senator claimed.
Activity forced officials to close airspace over Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio for approximately four hours from Friday into Saturday as authorities monitored the situation, WHIO reported.
Retired police lieutenant and intelligence analyst Tim McMillan told DailyMail.com suspicions about possible Russian involvement were raised due to the location of many sightings – Picatinny Arsenal, a major plant which manufactures ammunition supplied to Ukraine.
Lt McMillan also noted that descriptions of the flying objects ‘sound exactly like Russian Orlan-10 drones’ — secretive craft which fly in packs of three to five.
Drones have also been spotted over a US airbase in Britain, set to become home to US nuclear weapons.
Footage obtained by MailOnline features what is suspected to be four drones, brazenly flying with bright lights, in the early evening darkness above RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk.
The US Air Force admitted last month that drones had buzzed three of its UK bases – RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk and nearby RAF Feltwell, Norfolk.
The sightings which are said to have started on November 20 and continued for several days, coincided with the similar drone ‘invasions’ in New Jersey.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk