Former CIA operations officer Laura Ballman says the mysterious drone sightings are “extremely disturbing” as the public searches for answers on “Fox News Live.”

Drone sightings across New Jersey have been unnerving residents for weeks, with no official explanation made. Ballman argued that the circumstances of the drone sightings suggest it may have been a U.S. operation.

“The conclusion from John Kirby’s (National Security Spokesman) statements that these drones are not operating illegally, coupled with several comments published in the last 24 hours about the need to review our detection systems, baffles me maybe something to think about.” “This is actually a classified exercise to test either evasion or detection technology in urban areas,” Ballman said.

Ballman went on to say she would be “shocked” if the drones were linked to the CIA and said it was “not their mission to operate in the United States.” She added that she was “concerned” about why the U.S. government had not provided information about the drones.

AFTER MORE THAN 20 DAYS, PENTAGON STILL HAVE NO ANSWERS TO THE ORIGIN OF THE MYSTERIOUS NJ DRONES

A map showing drone density in Monmouth County, New Jersey. (Courtesy: Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office)

DRONE SECRET: NEW JERSEY HOMEOWNERS are threatening to take matters into their own hands if the government doesn’t act

U.S. national security officials tried to allay concerns about it mysterious drones In a recent conversation with reporters flying across the Northeast, one went so far as to call the nationwide unrest “a slight overreaction.”

The call, which Fox News Digital participated in on Saturday, was hosted by senior Biden administration officials, including representatives from the FBI, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), National Security Council (NSC), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD).

Senior officials remained tight-lipped about the origins of the drones, which are still being investigated. The mysterious planes were first spotted in mid-November and repeatedly over northern New Jersey seen by thousands of residents in the last few weeks.

Map showing some of the locations where mysterious drones were spotted in the northeastern United States in December 2024. (Fox News)

AFTER MORE THAN 20 DAYS, PENTAGON STILL HAVE NO ANSWERS TO THE ORIGIN OF THE MYSTERIOUS NJ DRONES

While on the phone with reporters, an FBI official said his agency has received 5,000 tips since the first mysterious drone was seen flying over the Garden State in November. Of those 5,000 tips, fewer than 100 warranted further investigation, the official said.

The FBI official added that despite the recent surge in drone activity in recent weeks, investigators have found no evidence of large-scale unmanned drone activity.

New Jersey State Rep. Paul Kanitra took a photo of what appeared to be multiple drones hovering in the New Jersey sky on Thursday, December 13th. (Paul Kanitra / “Fox News @ Night”)

“We are doing our best to find out the origin of this specific… this drone activity,” the official said. “But I think there was a slight overreaction.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

A DHS official echoed the FBI representative’s comments, noting that while his agency did not dismiss all of the drone leads as unreliable, “the level of actual drone activity is likely less than what is being reported.”

Fox News’ Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.