"The Garden State" found itself on the receiving end Thursday night of an unlikely potshot at the hands of famous astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Tyson took a swipe at New Jersey during an appearance on "The Source," when asked his thoughts on an ongoing mystery: mysterious drone sightings that have been recorded for days over the state.
Tyson began by pushing back against those who would seek to downplay the danger the machines could pose.
"If people cannot identify what they are, you're in no position to say whether they are or are not a threat," he said. "So I don't get what it means when they say, 'Oh, don't worry about it. We don't know what it is, but don't worry about it.'"
It was then that the famed scientist jabbed the state, and suggested the drones could be from a galaxy far, far away — a stubborn theory that has taken hold in recent years as former government officials testify the truth might actually be of nonhuman origin.
"I can't claim to know the motives of aliens — just being an Earthling — but of all the places to show up on Earth, they picked New Jersey?" he said as he and anchor Kaitlan Collins laughed. "That'd be odd for me. I'd wonder what the aliens are looking for. No offense to New Jersey, I'm just saying the whole Earth they could've visited. So yeah it's a mystery."
Another argument against aliens, he noted: Drones are more widely available than ever before.
"Maybe this is just the new normal. Jersey is just getting the first taste of it," he said.
Tyson said he's "a little disappointed" that the Pentagon with its massive budget can't figure out what they are or where they come from.
"Now I'm worried," he said with another chuckle. "National security."
Collins, still laughing, joked she knows some people from New Jersey. And she expects she''ll hear from them.
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"I'm going to get some complaints from Phil Murphy and others about that comment saying, 'New Jersey is a great place for Martians to visit."
"Except for the taxes," joked Tyson, as the two shared another laugh.
The conversation took a more serious tone, with Tyson laying some blame at the feet of officials who've testified that a nonhuman intelligence is interacting with humans.
"Maybe there's a sensitivity or an awareness factor for lights in the sky, especially after a year-and-a-half of congressional testimony of people declaring that we're being visited," he said.
Even so, he applauded that people are now more aware of what's in the sky.
Watch the clip below or at this link.
