If you are wondering about the mysterious drones the Biden administration seems very much less concerned about, listen to the silence, it screams a government operation, according to former CIA operations officer Laura Ballman.
"Now in terms of who is behind this, deducing the statements that have been made by [White House national security communications adviser] John Kirby — who has said that these objects are not operating illegally — coupled with the several op-eds that have been out the last 24 hours about the need to look at our detection systems, makes me think, perhaps, this is actually a classified exercise to test either evasion technology or detection technology in urban areas," Ballman said in a televised interview Saturday.
"In terms of why the federal government would not be more forthcoming, I've actually been troubled by that. If I were in a position to advise on this, I would say it's time to become more transparent."
While Biden officials have rebuked the public and media's "overreaction" to the drones, the New York Post reported, Ballman said it is "extremely unsettling" how the administration is unconcerned — which makes it telling.
Intelligence analyst Fred Fleitz told Newsmax's "The Count" on Saturday he doubts a foreign drone campaign, but the larger drones "are being run by the military or the CIA."
"There's some type of exercise or experiment and whatever is happening, we know very well that the U.S. government is not giving the American people an adequate explanation," he said. "I think they know what's going on here, and when they say nothing to see here, these are just small aircraft, I just don't think that's true."
Drones have been reported in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Miami, Southern California, and Wyoming, according to the Daily Mail.
"We're doing our best to find the origin of those drone activities, but I think there has been a slight over-reaction," a federal official told reporters in a briefing Saturday, adding the Pentagon has "not found any evidence to support large-scale [unmanned aerial systems] activities."
The FBI has received 5,000 tips on suspicious drone activity in New Jersey alone, including 100 that required further investigation, according to the official.
Another official with the Defense Department noted intelligence has not suggested the drones are "aligned with a foreign actor or that they had malicious intent," according to the Post.
"We have not been able to locate or identify the operators or the points of origin," the official added.
Republicans in Congress have suggested there are intelligence sources suggesting the drones were Chinese, Iranian, or Russian, but the Biden administration's lack of deep concern, unlike the Chinese spy balloon it ultimately shot down, suggest awareness of their origin, even President-elect Donald Trump surmised.
"Mystery Drone sightings all over the country," Trump wrote Saturday on Truth Social. "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!!!"
Clearly the Pentagon is aware if not behind the drones, according to retired U.S. Army Col. Joe Buccino.
"It's clear here that the Pentagon has some information," he said in a televised interview, according to the Daily Mail.
"And I think maybe we just keep in mind here that this is the same Pentagon that back in January lied about the location and condition of the U.S. secretary of defense, that lied about the conditions on the ground in Ukraine, that lied about this Chinese spy balloon for about a week.
"So I think that we can't really be comfortable with the information we're receiving here."