WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Pentagon said on Wednesday that there was no evidence that drones that had been spotted over New Jersey were from a foreign entity or adversary and dismissed a claim by a U.S. lawmaker that they were being launched from an Iranian “mothership.”
Earlier in the day, Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew suggested that the drones were being launched from an Iranian “mothership” that was stationed off the U.S. East Coast.
“What we’ve uncovered is alarming—drones flying in from the direction of the ocean, possibly linked to a missing Iranian mothership,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Pentagon said there was no Iranian mothership.
“There is no truth to that. There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States and there’s no so-called ‘mothership’ launching drones towards the United States,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters.
Singh said that drones spotted were not from the U.S. military either and the issue was being investigated by local law enforcement.
Singh added that U.S. military had not shot down any drones since they did not pose a threat to any military installations.
In an interview with Fox News, Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew claimed that the drones were being launched from an Iranian “mothership” that was stationed off the U.S. East Coast.
At his weekly press conference, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries was asked about the lack of information about the drones.
“We need a greater degree of transparency from law enforcement authorities and we will make sure that happens in the days and weeks to come,” Jeffries said.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart. Additional reporting by Richard Cowan, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
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