The loss of public trust in U.S. institutions is well-chronicled, and for an example of its cost consider the national mini-panic over unidentified aerial objects. No one in America seems to believe what anyone in authority says about them, and unproven claims are filling the vacuum.
Thousands of Americans who aren’t cranks have seen drones or what they think are drones overhead. New Jersey of all places is a hotbed of sightings, for reasons no one has been able to explain. But sightings have occurred across the Northeast, as well as in California. Military facilities and critical infrastructure sites seem to be targets, if the eyewitnesses are right.
Yet no one in Washington seems to be able to convincingly explain the sightings. A joint statement Thursday by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security said: “We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or public safety threat or have a foreign nexus.”
The statement added that “Historically, we have experienced cases of mistaken identity, where reported drones are, in fact, manned aircraft or facilities. We are supporting local law enforcement in New Jersey with numerous detection methods but have not corroborated any of the reported visual sightings with electronic detection. To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft, operating lawfully.”
Yet the unexplained sightings persist. One caused Stewart International Airport in New York’s Hudson Valley to shut down its runways for an hour on Friday night. Gov. Kathy Hochul demanded answers from the Biden Administration. Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, not known as a show-boater, says he saw a flurry of aerial objects above his home in Davidsonville, Md.
