A US lawmaker says large drones spotted over several locations in the US over the past month were launched by Iran.
Since mid-November, the drones, which were described to be the size of a car, have been reported over multiple locations in New Jersey and New York, as well as an event in California where Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in attendance.
Citing what he called "very high and qualified sources," Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) told Fox News: "I’m going to tell you the real deal. Iran launched a mothership, probably about a month ago, that contains these drones. It’s off the East Coast of the United States of America. They’ve launched drones.”
He ruled out the possibility that the drones were being flown by the US government, saying he would have been notified about it.
"We know that Iran made a deal with China to purchase drones, motherships, and technology in order to go forward," he noted and added: "These drones should be shot down. Whether it's a crazy hobbyist or whether it's Iran, which I think it very possibly could be, it should be shot down.
The Pentagon denied Rep. Van Drew's claims, Defense Department Spokeswomen Sabrina Singh saying: "At this time we have no evidence that these activities are coming from a foreign entity or the work of an adversary. We are going to continue to monitor what is happening but at no point were our installations threatened when this activity was occurring. She added: "There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there's no so-called mothership launching drones toward the United States"