Republican New Jersey Representative Jeff Van Drew announced that the drones flying over his home state are from Iran.
The drones, some reportedly the size of small cars, have been described as operating near military installations and critical infrastructure including Picatinny Arsenal and the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. Van Drew told Fox News' Harris Faulkner that his confidential sources are positive the drones come from Iran. He added that the United States government does not have similar technology.
"From very high sources, very qualified sources, very responsible sources, I'm going to tell you the real deal," Van Drew said. "Iran launched a mothership probably a month ago that contains these drones."
Newsweek reached out to the FBI national press office for comment.
Both the FBI and local police are investigating the drone sightings, which authorities say have been reported in several areas along the Raritan River since November 18. On Sunday night, residents of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, reported seeing up to 12 drones near the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge. The drones have been also sighted near President-elect Donald Trump's New Jersey Bedminster golf club.
"We understand the concern, and we are doing all we can to figure out what's going on," a spokeswoman for the FBI's Newark Field Office, which is leading the investigation, told PIX11 News on Tuesday. "We truly don't have much information to provide at the moment."
Unusual phenomena have been linked to the sightings, including a family's report of their car clock changing while a drone hovered overhead.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, last week that his team is "actively monitoring the situation and in close coordination with our federal and law enforcement partners on this matter."
Murphy has also previously called the drones "very sophisticated." He noted, however, that "the minute you get your eyes on them, they go dark."
A staff member from Murphy's office told Newsweek Wednesday that there will be a meeting between administration members for local elected officials today about the drones. The meeting is closed to the press.
"There is no known threat to the public at this time," Murphy posted.
Van Drew, however, believes the opposite.
"This is a clear and present danger to the United States and our President-elect," Van Drew said. "It's serious business."
Van Drew, who is on the transportation committee and aviation subcommittee, said there was a "probability" that the drones came from "our own government," but they are not "because they would have let us know."
"We don't even have anything like this," Van Drew said.
The representative also noted that it could have been a "glorified hobbiest that was doing something unbelievable" but that "they don't have the technology."
"I don't say this lightly," Van Drew said. "The third possibility was that an adversarial country was doing this."
Van Drew said he knows that Iran made a deal with China to purchase drones and technology "in order to go forward."
"This isn't just Jeff Van Drew saying 'Oh let's get on Harris Faulkner's show and say something outrageous,'" Van Drew said. "I'm telling you the very straightforward deal from high officials that are telling me this."
Van Drew said that "we've got to get them down" in order to determine how the drones work and what their purpose is.
"These drones should be shot down," Van Drew said. "We've got to bring them down, and we got to find a way to bring them down."
Iran has been the center of many political guffaws recently. President Joe Biden's administration warned Trump when the two met at the White House in November that Iran is the most "immediate threat" to national security.
Throughout his election campaign, President-elect Trump talked about the U.S.'s relationship with Iran and has previously said that he hopes to be "friendly" with the country but will not allow them to have nuclear weapons.
This statement came after Trump blamed Iran for hacking his campaign's internal communications, which Iranian officials denied, and federal officials later confirmed. He also previously said that the U.S. should not get involved in a government change in Iran.
Trump was also recently the target of an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate the president-elect, which Iran has since denied.
The Iranian assassin was alleged to have been assigned by the government to kill numerous individuals in the U.S. as part of a larger mission, with one of his most prominent targets being Trump.
Residents have been asked to report any sightings and share any videos or photos they may have of the flights by calling the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or submitting it online at tips@fbi.gov.
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