© 2026 ABC News

Dec. 16

President-elect Trump says the Biden administration knows more about the drones than it's sharing with the public.

\"They know where it came from and where it went. And for some reason, they don't want to comment. And I think they'd be better off saying what it is. Our military knows and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense,\" Trump says.

\"PHOTO:
Evan Vucci/AP
PHOTO: President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, Dec. 16, 2024.
>

New Jersey State Police and the FBI in Newark say there's been an increase of pilots \"being hit in the eyes with lasers because people think they see an Unmanned Aircraft Systems\" and warn against people taking matters into their own hands.

\"We're also concerned people will take matters into their own hands and fire a weapon at an aircraft,\" FBI Newark Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson Delgado says in a video message. \"Not only is this act against the law, but it poses an incredible danger to the pilots and passengers on those aircraft.\"

https://x.com/FBINewark/status/1868783158193209696

The Department of Homeland Security, FBI, FAA and Department of Defense say in a multiagency statement that the thousands of drone sightings that have been reported over the last month in the Northeast do not appear to be \"anything anomalous,\" nor do they present a national security or public safety risk.

The FBI has received more than 5,000 tips in the last few weeks with approximately 100 leads generated, the statement says, and there still is no threat to public safety.

\"Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and stars mistakenly reported as drones,\" the statement says. \"We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the Northeast.\"

ABC News' Bill Hutchinson, Meredith Deliso and Brittany Gaddy contributed to this report.

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