On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA) said that “the U.S. government could have been a little bit more open and honest and upfront about what was going on here and about the concerns about it, because this is a major problem. There are so many of these drones now that they are potentially dangerous. Someone could have a bad intent.”
Smith said, [relevant remarks begin around 14:40] “Well, first of all, nobody knows everything that’s going on. But, three quick points about this: One, the hysteria is dangerous. As has been pointed out, a lot of these sightings are manned aircraft. Also, there’s a ton of drones up there. There’s a ton of things going on. So, the hysteria around it being a plot around a dirty bomb or an Iranian mothership off the coast, that’s all completely made up. Second thing is, that the U.S. government could have been a little bit more open and honest and upfront about what was going on here and about the concerns about it, because this is a major problem. There are so many of these drones now that they are potentially dangerous. Someone could have a bad intent. What are we doing about it?”
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