[tejohnso]

The highest authorities have indicated that the drones are not U.S. military [1].

I guess they could be playing semantic games. Could be defense contractor owned and operated as opposed to directly military controlled.

In any case, if they know what they are they are lying. Either directly or by omission. Not that either would be unusual.

[1]: https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/11/pentagon-says-mystery-dron...

EDIT: Actually there were statements that didn't leave room for semantic games:

“The Bureau is actively investigating the situation you mentioned, the unexplained sighting of drone activity over that part of New Jersey, including in proximity to sensitive sites and areas of concern. We do not attribute that to an individual or a group yet."

https://homeland.house.gov/2024/12/12/unexplained-sighting-d...

[EE84M3i]

If they are Department of Energy, that's consistent with them not being US Military. For example, DoE is publicly known to have radiation detection helicopters - See Aerial Measuring System (AMS) and Nuclear Emergency Support Team (NEST)

[defrost]

The reason AMS like functions are carried out by fixed wing aircraft and helicopter slung pods is the weight of the doped crystal packs required to sense gamma radiation from even relatively low ground clearance.

Radiation surveys are steady paced gridding runs, evenly spaced lines flown at a uniform height and speed.

Little drones bobbing about aren't doing a good job running a detection grid.

[baggy_trough]

"When the situation is serious, you have to lie."