Well... In other words, yes, the federal government is behind this.

NEW: White House official John Kirby says after his extensive "assessment" of the drones, he can confidently say the drones are totally legal, lawful, and perfectly normal.
In other words, yes, the federal government is behind this.
"I stand here today to date, our assessment is that this is lawful, legal, commercial, hobbyist, and even law enforcement aircraft activity."
"Some of it's manned, some of it's unmanned."
"We absolutely acknowledge that a lot of these are probably drones, but they're flying legally."
"And it is legal to fly drones in nonrestricted airspace as long as you're registered with the FAA. And there's thousands and thousands of these kinds of flights every single day."