Officials said even stars have been ‘mistakenly reported’ as drones as they call for calm

The White House has finally spoken out about the rise of ‘drones’ over New Jersey as troubling theories continue to spread.

Dozens of residents have spotted drones flying overhead on the East Coast in recent weeks, with many speculating what the aircrafts are doing and where they might have come from. And naturally, fears over national security have been ramping up.

Garden State residents have made some 5,000 reports to a tip line about drone sightings across Morris, Passaic, Bergen and Hunterdon County since November 18, though fewer than 100 have been deemed worthy of further investigation, an FBI official has since said.

The Pentagon confirmed in a briefing on Wednesday last week (December 11) that the drones hadn’t come from a ‘mothership’ in Iran, which is what New Jersey Representative Jeff Van Drew had told Fox News.

The claim prompted spokesperson Sabrina Singh to say there was ‘no evidence’ the drones ‘are coming from a foreign entity or the work of an adversary’.

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder also said on Monday that the matter is being taken ‘very seriously’, but stressed thousands of drones are flown across the country legally every day.

He said it’s not ‘unusual’ to see drones and they are not an ‘indication of malicious activity or any public safety threat’.

A drone sighting in New Jersey (Twitter/@JerzyBets)

Now, White House spokesman John Kirby has weighed in on the story and has revealed the drones over people’s homes are a ‘combination’ of permitted personal, commercial and governmental aircraft – and stars – many of which he said are being used for the ‘betterment’ of society.

The National Security Communications Advisor said, per local reports: “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 even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones.

“We have not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the Northeast. The work continues.”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) estimates there at least 1 million registered drones, with 8,000 legally permitted to fly every day.

Thousands of drones are permitted to fly across the US every day (Getty Stock Photo)

The FAA also lifted some restrictions around drones being flown at night in September last year which the Department of Homeland Security’s Alejandro Mayorkas said may have fueled some of the upset.

He told ABC: “That may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before, especially from dawn to dusk. I want to assure the American public that we are on it.”

The confirmation also comes as federal authorities have been accused of failing to give a proper explanation about the phenomenon in recent weeks while trying to offer assurance that there aren’t any national security issues to be concerned about.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced a push for legislation on Monday that would provide more resources ad give local officials authority to address the drone situation.

White House officials said drones are for the ‘betterment’ of society (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Schumer said in a Senate floor speech: “The reports of the past few weeks have ignited immense anxiety and confusion for millions of people living across the Northeast.

“Thankfully, there is no reason to believe these drone sightings pose a national security threat. But even so they can be disruptive if they fly over restricted airspace like airports or bases. In the meantime, I urge DHS to take all necessary action to deploy as many drone-detecting resources as possible.”

President-elect Donald Trump also said during his press conference at Mar-a-Lago: “For some reason, they don’t want to comment, and I think they’d be better off saying what it is. Our military knows. Our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense.

“I can’t imagine it’s the enemy, because if it was the enemy they’d blast it.”