The US military has been left baffled by the repeated appearance of swarms of drones around one of its air bases, and a site used for nuclear-weapons experiments.
In December 2023, US military personnel reported swarms of as yet unidentified aircraft flying over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. The aircraft, estimated by US Air Force General Mark Kelly to be around 6 meters (20 feet) long and traveling at over 160 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour), made repeated visits to the air base, usually beginning 45 minutes to an hour after sunset.
Kelly told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that the aircraft arrived over the base, flew off, and returned over the course of 17 nights, describing the incidents as “Close Encounters at Langley”. During the encounters, several of the drones emitted small amounts of light, making them look like a constellation of moving stars, before the aircraft usually disappeared before midnight.
The US military was unable to shoot down the drones, their usual muscle memory response, as it could endanger the public in the vicinity. Instead, local police in Hampton, Virginia, trailed the drones by car and on foot over the course of two nights, beginning on December 6. Three appeared to land in Gosnold’s Hope Park during this bizarre chase, but returned to the air before the police could get to them, while another appeared to land offshore.
A few months prior to the arrival of the aircraft at Langley, five drones were also seen flying over the Energy Department’s Nevada Nuclear Security Site outside Las Vegas, with four of these occurring over the course of three days.
The incidents, and breach of restricted airspace, were taken very seriously by investigators, with President Biden being briefed about the situation shortly after it began in December. Despite an investigation by the Defense Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Pentagon’s UFO office, it remains unclear what exactly is going on. Possible explanations, according to the WSJ, include that Russia or China deployed the drones in order to test the US response, or that they were operated by hobbyists.
Either way, the visits stopped on December 23. It’s nice that Russia/China/aliens/amateur hobbyists respect the holiday season.
