White House national security spokesman gives major update amid drone hysteria

After sifting through the reports over the past few weeks of reports of drones over New Jersey, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Monday the truth is not out there.

Foreign policy reporter Laura Rozen quoted Kirby in a briefing Monday saying that the increased use of drones isn't an invasion.

"Having closely looked at the tips and collated them as best we can from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones," he said. "We have not identified anything anomalous or any national security or public safety risk over the civilian airspace in New Jersey or other states in the Northeast."

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Later in the briefing, he also asked reporters to stress that there are over a million legal drones in the United States, and thousands of them are flying around at any given time, "legally" and "lawfully."

Fox News has helped amp up fears about the devices, with one host calling it a "Pearl Harbor moment."

President-elect Donald Trump has indicated he's open to allowing Americans to shoot them down.

It is illegal to shoot at drones, but Rep. James Comer (R-KY) also said Monday his constituents will use their "Second Amendment capabilities" and shoot down the machines, which could result in planes being mistakenly fired upon.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation reported in June that drones are being used as "first responder programs" across the United States, and departments are begging for more.

"With their birds-eye view, drones can observe individuals in previously private and constitutionally protected spaces, like their backyards, roofs, and even through home windows," the EFF said. "And they can capture crowds of people, like protestors and other peaceful gatherers exercising their First Amendment rights. Drones can be equipped with cameras, thermal imaging, microphones, license plate readers, face recognition, mapping technology, cell-site simulators, weapons, and other payloads. Proliferation of these devices enables state surveillance even for routine operations and in response to innocuous calls —situations unrelated to the original concerns of terrorism or violent crime originally used to justify their adoption."