Well, isn’t this just the perfect little encapsulation of modern Washington? Coast Guard members are out on the water, encountering what they describe as 30 drones—advanced, fast-moving, and undeniably not mistaken for commercial airliners—and yet, here comes the White House press shop, smugly patting everyone on the head and saying, “There’s nothing to see here, folks. Move along.”
Let’s lay out the facts. A member of the Coast Guard crew—someone who actually saw these drones, who experienced their behavior firsthand—has come forward to set the record straight. Speaking anonymously to the New York Post, this sailor described a swarm of drones that “appeared out of nowhere” at night, hovered about 80 to 100 feet above their vessel, tracked their movements at speeds of 20 mph, and then ascended and peeled off toward the shore.
His words cut through the bureaucratic gaslighting like a hot knife through butter: “Commercial airplanes don’t move like that. We’re not idiots, we know what drones look and sound like.”
And yet, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby—the smooth-talking maestro of deflection—had the audacity to suggest that these trained servicemen and women mistook commercial airliners for drones. Airliners. At 100 feet. Hovering. Tracking a boat. Flashing festive lights.
Give me a break.
The Coast Guard member wasn’t having it, and frankly, neither should the rest of us. He called the implication “insulting” and outright stated, “They’re full of s**t.” And you know what? He’s right.
Finally, the FAA has banned drones over parts of New Jersey, threatening “deadly force” for “imminent security threat.”
About time! pic.twitter.com/raW5HtpHDa
— 🇺🇸ProudArmyBrat (@leslibless) December 19, 2024
This wasn’t some weekend fisherman spotting a UFO after one too many beers on his bass boat. This was a trained Coast Guard crew, on duty, in a controlled environment, observing something extraordinary and reporting it with clarity. These men and women know what planes look like. They know what drones look like. And they sure as hell know the difference between the two.
But Washington’s reflexive dismissal isn’t just insulting—it’s suspicious. If it’s nothing, why has the FAA banned drone operations over parts of New Jersey until January 17? If it’s nothing, why are federal agencies suddenly threatening to shoot drones down if they pose an imminent threat? You don’t scramble enforcement measures like that over “commercial airliners mistaken for drones.”
This isn’t just about drones; it’s about trust. When Americans can’t believe their government is telling them the truth about something as seemingly straightforward as unmanned aerial vehicles buzzing a Coast Guard vessel, we’ve got a serious problem.
Journalist Michael Shellenberger put it bluntly—there’s no way the Biden administration could have properly investigated all of these drone sightings and confidently declared them “not anomalous” in such a short amount of time. And let’s not forget, these aren’t isolated incidents. There have been multiple sightings, often near military installations, and they can’t all be hand-waved away as misidentified airplanes or hobbyist drones.
So what’s going on here? Are these foreign surveillance drones? Are they American military drones testing some classified technology? Are they something else entirely? We don’t know, and that’s the problem. Instead of honest transparency, we get dismissive bureaucratic doublespeak and patronizing reassurances from talking heads like Kirby.
The DOD-FBI-DHS-FAA say they thoroughly investigated all ~6,000 drone reports, but there’s no way they could have. They’re lying because, apparently, they don’t want to talk about why they can’t control the airspace above either our military bases or our residential areas. pic.twitter.com/bfNjphFhyg
— Michael Shellenberger (@shellenberger) December 17, 2024
Look, this Coast Guard member put it best: “We’re not idiots.” And the American people aren’t idiots either. This isn’t a conspiracy theory—it’s a pattern. When drones are swarming military assets, when trained professionals are describing advanced capabilities, and when the federal response is to deflect, dismiss, and then quietly impose restrictions, it’s not paranoia to ask questions. It’s common sense.
The Biden administration can keep trying to wave this off with a shrug and a smirk, but the more they deny, the louder the questions will get. And eventually, they’ll have to give us something more substantial than “Nothing to see here, folks.”
Because let’s be clear: when the men and women of our Coast Guard raise the alarm, they deserve more than condescension and PR spin. They deserve answers. And so do we.
