The mystery of the swarm of drones seen in New Jersey and other northeastern states for at least the last month still hasn't been solved and is at the top of the news cycle as we head into the weekend (as expertly covered by our own Ward Clark), and finally, President-Elect Donald Trump has weighed in on the topic. Trump made a simple statement on Truth Social:

He wrote:

Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so! Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!! DJT

Musk's first statement was a tongue-in-cheek response to Fox News' Bill Melugin.

Alien spaceships controlled by Iran obv

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 13, 2024

Melugin asked, "Any thoughts on the mass drone sightings off the East Coast?" To which Musk replied, "Alien spaceships controlled by Iran obviously," leaning into what Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) said Wednesday:

...from very high sources, very qualified sources, very responsible sources, I'm going to tell you the real deal. Iran launched a mother ship, probably about a month ago, that contains these drones. That mother ship is off... I'm going to tell you the deal. It's off the East Coast of the United States of America. They've launched drones, everything that we can see or hear, and these are from high sources, I don't say this lightly.

Now, we know there was a probability that this could have been our own government, but we know it's not our own government, because they would have let us know. It could have been some really glorified hobbyist or hobbyists, that were doing something unbelievable, they don't have the technology. But let's pretend that's possible. The third possibility is somebody, an adversarial country, doing this.

One problem with Van Drew's assessment is his belief that if the drones were being operated by our own government, "they would have let us know." There's really not much to support a belief that our government would be transparent. Van Drew's ultimate conclusion was spot-on, though, that they should be shot down (if it's possible to do that without harming people on the ground).

These drones should be shot down. Whether it was some crazy hobbyist that we can't imagine, or whether it is Iran, and I think it very possibly could be, they should be shot down. We are not getting the full deal. And the military is on alert with this.

Earlier Friday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan reported seeing "dozens" of large drones in the sky above his home just 25 miles from Washington, D.C., and said the drones were overhead for approximately 45 minutes.

Last night, beginning at around 9:45 pm, I personally witnessed (and videoed) what appeared to be dozens of large drones in the sky above my residence in Davidsonville, Maryland (25 miles from our nation’s capital). I observed the activity for approximately 45 minutes.

Like… pic.twitter.com/Ipx8ctLmhs

— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) December 13, 2024

If these were all airplanes approaching airports using new flight patterns, that would have all been documented by now. It also doesn't seem credible to think that there's a sudden massive uptick in drone hobbyists in these areas. Whatever is happening, we need answers. Now.