Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey said Wednesday that he believed Iran was behind a series of instances involving waves of drones over New Jersey.
The drones have appeared over the sky of the Garden State, in some cases flying in formation, in recent weeks, according to video footage obtained by the Daily Caller. Van Drew told Fox News host Harris Faulkner that âqualifiedâ and âresponsible sourcesâ believe Iranâs involvement in the unexplained phenomena.
âIâm also on the Transportation Committee, on the Aviation Subcommittee and I have gotten to know people and from very high sources, very qualified sources, very responsible sources, Iâm going to tell you the real deal: Iran launched a mothership, probably about a month agoâ that contains these drones. That mothership is off â Iâm gonna tell you the deal â it is off the East Coast of the United States of America,â Van Drew said. âTheyâve launched drones, everything that we can see or hear and again these are from high sources. I donât say this lightly. We know there was a probability it could have been our own government. We know it is not our own government, because they would have let US know. It could have been some really glorified hobbyists⌠doing something unbelievable, they donât have the technology, but letâs pretend thatâs possible. The third possibility was somebody, adversarial country doing this. Know that Iran made a deal with China to purchase drones, motherships and technology in order to go forward.â
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âThe sources I have are good. They canât reveal who they are, because they are speaking to me in confidentiality,â Van Drew continued. âThese drones should be shot down whether it was some crazy hobbyist that we canât imagine or whether it is Iran and I think it very possibly could be. They should be shot down. We are not getting the full deal and the military is on alert with this.â
Iran has provided Russia hundreds of drones since 2022, with Russia using the drones in its war with Ukraine. Faulkner expressed surprise at the âpretty dire informationâ Van Drew presented, noting the sightings were close to President-elect Donald Trumpâs residence in Bedminster, New Jersey.
âWeâve got to find a way to bring them down. I donât know exactly where they are landing. I have some information and again, this isnât just Jeff Van Drew, oh, letâs get on Harris Faulknerâs show and say something outrageous. Iâm telling you the straight deal from very high positioned individuals telling me this, and the bottom line is they are launching `em,â Van Drew said. âThey are across the country. We donât have anything like this. Our government and also certainly our hobbyists donât. Think about it. Not only do I have the information, but it is also common sense. We have to get them down and determine how they function, what they do, make sure we can get them and you are right in a safe way.â
âWhen I say shoot them down, get them down any way that you can, but right now they are probably extracting information,â Van Drew continued. âThis is a clear and present danger to the United States and to our president-elect and a serious business.â
The Justice Department announced an indictment of three individuals in an assassination plot targeting Trump that was linked to Iran, which has vowed revenge after Trump ordered a strike that killed Qasem Soleimani, a notorious commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, in Jan. 2020.
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