Pete Buttigieg Rejects 'Alien Invasion' Drone Theory With Cheeky Jab At New Jersey
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is weighing in on the mysterious lights recently spotted in the sky by New Jersey residents, whose claims of drone sightings have prompted an FBI investigation, a response from the Pentagon and various theories on their origin.
On Monday’s broadcast of “The Breakfast Club,” radio host Charlamagne Tha God broached one viral theory claiming that there would be “combat in the skies” after podcaster Joe Rogan interviewed Republican Donald Trump.
“That’s when all of these SUV-sized drones, which I’ve even seen, started getting seen over Jersey,” Charlamagne told Buttigieg.
Asked if this signaled “an alien invasion,” Buttigieg kept it light.
“I mean no disrespect to New Jersey when I say that I think it’s very unlikely that an alien invasion would begin in New Jersey,” he replied, to raucous laughter. “I love New Jersey. I’m just saying I don’t think that’s the main point of entry that an [extraterrestrial would use].”
He suggested that if he were an alien, he would instead “go for someplace in the Pacific where there’s no inhabited space for a couple of hundred miles, so that I could get my bearings before I go anywhere anyone’s going to see me.”
The sightings have certainly spawned confusion, with Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.) claiming that they are drones from an Iranian “mother ship” off the U.S. coast, which the Pentagon denied, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) asking President Joe Biden to provide more resources for investigation.
The White House has said many of the sightings are the result of manned aircraft being flown legally, and a national security spokesperson said there’s no evidence that they pose a “public safety threat.”
Sightings have also been reported recently in states like Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Ohio and New York, whose governor urged Congress to give state and local law enforcement more power to address “unmanned aircraft systems.”
On Sunday’s broadcast of ABC’s “This Week,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas similarly said: “We need from Congress additional authorities to address the drone situation. Our authorities currently are limited and they are set to expire. We need them extended and expanded.”
Buttigieg said on “The Breakfast Club” that “our job is to make sure that any restricted airspace, nothing comes in there that shouldn’t be there. That includes airspace over an airport. Sometimes another area could be restricted because it’s sensitive.” He cited a Trump golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, as one location “with temporary flight restrictions.”
He added: “Bigger picture is, we’re going to have more and more drones. Obviously, if it’s manned, that’s different. But we’re going to have more and more things entering the airspace. We’ve got to work to make sure that’s safe.”
