The Biden administration is under fire as mysterious drone sightings over the East Coast and beyond continue to raise alarms. While federal agencies have downplayed the incidents, one military expert warns these sightings expose significant vulnerabilities in America’s airspace defenses—risks that adversaries could exploit.
Former U.S. Marine Col. William Dunn, a military aviation expert and president of the Strategic Resilience Group, believes these drones are likely domestic in origin and conducting surveillance operations. Drawing from his decades of experience, Dunn argues that the United States’ inability to identify and intercept these drones sends a troubling message to adversaries.
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In a recent interview with Fox News, Col. Dunn explained that it’s improbable for large drones to cross U.S. borders undetected. Instead, he posits that the drones are being launched from within the country.
“Especially on the East Coast, I’m very familiar with our air defense identification zones. It’s very difficult to fly anything into the United States. It’s not impossible, but it’s very difficult,” he said. The drones’ size and potential need for refueling further support his theory of a domestic origin.
Dunn speculated that the drones are scanning for specific targets, potentially searching for chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear threats. “They’re looking for something,” he emphasized, noting the heightened risks posed by the open southern border and a growing concern about imminent terrorist threats.
More alarming than the drones themselves, according to Dunn, is the message their unchecked activity sends to adversaries like China or Russia.
“We are telegraphing right now that we do not know where these drones are,” Dunn warned. “We’re telegraphing that we can fly these drones over U.S. bases and we can’t do anything about it.”
This perceived weakness, Dunn explained, could embolden adversaries to use drones for surveillance or attacks on critical infrastructure and military facilities.
Dunn advocates for advanced counter-drone technologies to mitigate the threat. He described methods such as using non-kinetic weapons to disable drones without destroying them.
“You can zap it with a non-kinetic means,” Dunn said. “It wipes out their electricity, and it makes them land or crash in a controlled way.”
Such tools are vital, he argued, for neutralizing rogue drones safely while preserving evidence for further investigation. However, shooting drones down remains a risky option due to the potential danger of falling debris.
Despite these warnings, the Biden administration and federal agencies have dismissed public concerns over the drone sightings. In a joint statement, the Department of Defense, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), FBI, and Department of Homeland Security minimized the significance of the incidents.
“Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, 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 stars mistakenly reported as drones,” the agencies claimed.
The statement continued, “We have not identified anything anomalous and do not assess the activity to date to present a national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the northeast.”
To address public unease, federal agencies have called on Congress to pass expanded counter-drone legislation. This would grant local authorities greater power to detect and neutralize drone threats.
The statement also addressed concerns about drone sightings over military facilities, asserting that local commanders were actively engaged to ensure appropriate detection and mitigation measures.
Col. Dunn remains skeptical of the administration’s reassurances, warning that the incidents reveal deeper systemic vulnerabilities. “We cannot afford to let these drones roam freely and leave the message that we’re unprepared to defend our airspace,” he said.
The presence of these drones—whether for surveillance or more nefarious purposes—underscores the limitations of U.S. airspace defenses. Dunn’s concerns point to an urgent need for enhanced detection and mitigation technologies, robust legislative action, and stronger collaboration between federal, state, and local authorities.
While the mysterious drones have yet to cause harm, their presence serves as a stark reminder of the evolving threats in modern warfare. Adversaries are constantly testing vulnerabilities, and America’s ability to respond effectively is crucial.
For now, these drones highlight a growing gap in U.S. airspace security, one that Dunn and other experts believe must be closed before it’s exploited in a way that could lead to catastrophe. Whether the Biden administration will take decisive action remains to be seen, but the clock is ticking—and the stakes are higher than ever.
