(NewsNation) — Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee and officials from the Pentagon met in private Tuesday to discuss how the military is responding to drone activity.
Last year, an increase in drone sightings across the northeast drew public attention and prompted concern among local law enforcement and members of Congress.
The meeting lasted about an hour, and senators were tight-lipped about what was discussed. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., downplayed concerns, agreeing with the government’s previous assessment that the drones were personal and local drones.
“We’re going to run into that when you sell them over the counter,” he said. “You hate to put regulations on all that, but eventually that’s going to happen when you have more access to the bigger drones, the drones that go farther. They can be very dangerous, used as a weapon. But it’s all about catching up with technology.”
Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., did not downplay the drone sightings, making a bombshell claim last week to CBS News saying the Pentagon and national security adviser were still mystified by the sightings.
NORAD Northcom Chief Gen. Gregory Guillot previously addressed the threat from drones.
“The primary threat I see for them, in the way they’ve been operating, is detection and perhaps surveillance of sensitive capabilities on our installations,” he said. “There were 350 detections reported last year on military installations, and that was 350 over a total of 100 different installations of all types and levels of security.”
That is contrary to what the White House said back in January, when it said that drones were authorized by the FAA. When NewsNation reached out to the FAA, the agency directed questions back to the White House.
Two sheriffs in New Jersey, where many drones were sighted, said they have stopped seeing the drones. They remain upset about the lack of information they’ve been given.
Sheriff Sean Golden of Monmouth County, New Jersey, criticized the secrecy.
“I think, in this day and age, particularly in a post-9/11 era, in an area of threats and risk assessments, when we have an agency withholding information like that and not telling their own federal partners that were involved in this and not telling state and county officials what was happening is really disturbing to me,” he said. “Something needed to be done, and I’m going to continue to push Congress for reform.”