US officials have stressed that the strange drone sightings above New Jersey in recent weeks do not appear to be the work of a foreign adversary.

The Department of Defense denied the reports of the drones coming from Iran. "There is no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States, and there's no so called mothership launching drones towards the United States," a spokesperson for the Pentagon told reporters.

November, large drones of uncertain origin have been repeatedly spotted in the sky at night over central and northern New Jersey.