Congress says the drones over New Jersey were launched by the Iranian “Mothership”.

The mysterious sightings of drones in several counties in New Jersey during the last few weeks they were launched from an Iranian “mother ship,” according to a deputy who spoke to Fox News on Wednesday. And while it seems like a completely outlandish claim given everything we know publicly now, this isn’t some random internet crank. He is an elected leader in the United States who sits on powerful committees and claims to have sources that can be trusted.

The mysterious flying vehicles have flashing lights and have sometimes been described as being as large as a car. Walt Miller, police chief in the town of Evesham in New Jersey, gave a press conference on Friday where he said that police officers have been inundated with calls about flying objects. But it is not clear to most people what could be behind them.

At least it wasn’t clear until Rep. Jeff Van Drew, a New Jersey Republican, said Wednesday that he knows for sure what they are. The Rep. Drew is a member of the US House Transportation Committee on Aviation and says he has reliable information that these drones are from a hostile source.

“I’ve known the people and from very high sources, very qualified sources, very responsible sources, I’m telling you the real deal,” Van Drew said, prefacing his remarks on Fox News while talking to Harris Faulkner.

“Iran launched a mother ship, probably about a month ago, containing these drones. That mother ship is off the east coast of the United States of America. They launched drones – that’s all we can see and listen. Again, these are from high sources, I don’t say that lightly.”

Rep. Van Drew continued to admit that there was a “probability” whatever these flying objects could be American, either as amateurs or run by the US government, but insisted, “we know it’s not our government.”

“The third possibility was somebody, an adversary country, doing this. You know Iran made a deal with China to buy drones, motherships and technology to go forward,” said Rep. Van Drew. “The sources I have are good. They cannot reveal who they are because they are speaking to me confidentially. These drones have to be shot down.”

But as insistent as Rep. Van Drew was that he knew where these drones were coming from, he eventually began to blurt out that it just “could be” a mother ship from Iran.

“Whether it’s some crazy hobbyist that you can’t imagine, or whether it’s Iran, and I think it could be, they should be shot down. We’re not getting the agreement is complete and the military is on alert with it,” Rep. Van Drew said.

Rep. Van Drew called for the drones to be shot down. But experts aren’t quite sure what to make of claims that may come from a hostile nation. As many people have pointed out on social media, these flying objects would probably be intercepted somehow fairly quickly if they were actually operated by a foreign government.

“Regarding the mysterious New Jersey drones appearing over military bases (among other places), I think it is rather key to note that they have not been shot down or intercepted, although the military bases would be allowed to do this for safety reasons,” Faine Greenwood, a researcher who has worked for years on UAVs, wrote on Tuesday Bluesky.

Whatever happens, it will be interesting to see if anyone in the intelligence community comes forward to support any of Rep. Van Drew’s claims. Because from now on we only have their word on the topic.

“This is not just Jeff Van Drew … oh, we know, let’s go on the Harris show and say something outrageous,” Rep. Van Drew said of himself. “I tell you the direct business from very high individuals who tell me this. And the bottom line is that they launch them. They are all over the country.”

Van Drew also insisted that the US government has nothing so advanced, another claim that seems a bit outrageous.

“We don’t even have anything like that. Our government, and certainly our hobbyists don’t. So think. Not only do I have the information, but it’s also common sense,” said Rep. Van Drew.