12-18-2024 5:49am

Pentagon Officials Discredit Public UAP and Drone Sightings: President Trump Weighs In

Chris Edwards Editor

A series of UAP and or drone sightings across the nation have made certain members of the military, political leaders and the public uneasy. Those sightings recently resulted in the closure of airspace around the Wright Patterson Air Force Base last Friday for 4 hours but thus far has not impacted White Sands Missile Testing Range nor Holloman Air Force Base both critical to training and military testing operations.

Now with an outcry of unease the Pentagon has gone on the defensive in a campaign to calm the public and members of congress claiming "alleged drone sightings and or UAP's across the country are largely due to misidentification, and the objects in the sky are often not nefarious", according to Pentagon officials even as U.S. military bases sound alarms about detecting them in their airspace.

The sightings in New Jersey and elsewhere, which so far remained unconfirmed, have triggered widespread concern and demands from lawmakers as well as state and local officials for an explanation. But Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon's top spokesman, told reporters Monday that roughly a million drones are registered in the U.S. and some 8,000 fly every day, most of which are not cause for concern.

"It's not that unusual to see drones in the sky, nor is it an indication of malicious activity or any public safety threat, and so the same applies to drones flown near U.S. military installations; some fly near or over our bases from time to time," Ryder said. "That in itself is not unusual, and the vast majority pose no physical threat to our forces or impact our operations."

But if that is indeed the case why was a major United States military installation Wright Patterson AFB shut down, grounded with no flights in or out of it's airspace last weekend? Officials continue to investigate issues around that decision.

Military.com reports that president elect Trump has now commented on the issue of the sightings of drones and UAP's that have led to public outcry and brought pressure on New Jersey lawmakers and other government officials to respond to the growing chorus of concerns.

President-elect Donald Trump claimed to reporters on Monday that the government knows what's happening, and "they know where it came from and where it went, and for some reason they don't want to comment."

Fears about the drones grew after officials at Picatinny Arsenal in New Jersey confirmed 11 sightings last month. It came around the same time that U.S. bases in the U.K. spotted unmanned aircraft flying in their airspace, Military.com reported.

Also, Military.com reported that, earlier this month, federal officials announced charges against a Chinese citizen who allegedly flew his drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California and took pictures. On Friday, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio closed its airspace for several hours due to unidentified drones being detected at and near the installation, Bob Purtiman, a spokesman for the 88th Air Base Wing, told Military.com on Monday.

"I can confirm that small unmanned aerial systems were spotted in the vicinity of and over Wright-Patterson AFB between 13-14 December," Purtiman said. "To date, installation leaders have determined that none of the incursions impacted base residents, facilities, or assets."

Ryder told reporters he doesn't see any connection between the situation in New Jersey and the reported drones at Wright-Patterson.

The military newspaper Stars and Stripes reported Monday that drones had also been spotted at Ramstein Air Base in Germany earlier this month.

Some of the UAP sightings remain unexplained and are still concerning to the military. Last year, swarms of UAPs or drones were spotted near Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and the military has failed to explain.