Drones Harass US Military Assets While Public Discusses Aliens
On October 12, 2024, the Wall Street Journal published an article that added additional information to a story published by the Liberation Times. While the US Congress, popular podcasters, and viral social media posts have discussed the possibility of extraterrestrial or interdimensional entities visiting us, Defense Department officials have been quietly investigating cases of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS) harassing US Military assets.
Joint Base Langley-Eustis Incursions
Over a period of 17 days in December of 2023, multiple US Air Force personnel assigned to the 633d Security Forces Squadron at Joint Base (JB) Langley-Eustis reportedly observed multiple SUAS flying into restricted airpsace. The incidents typically occurred between dusk and early morning hours and were concentrated near the King Street Gate and the flightline on base. Additionally, witnesses indicated some of the SUAS flew in diamond formation and displayed “flashing red, green, and white lights.” Moreover, Security Forces’ reports indicate that Dronebuster counter-UAS systems were ineffective as the operators were “unable to get a visual,” likely indicating the Dronebuster’s radio frequency analyzer failed to detect the objects. General Mark Kelly, then commander of Air Combat Command (headquartered at JB Langley-Eustis), observed the objects and told the Wall Street Journal one of the drones was roughly 20 feet long and flying at over 100 mph at an altitude of approximately 3,000 to 4,000 feet.
The UAS seemed to enter the base from the north (multiple NASA research building are located north of the flightline), then continued south towards Norfolk before circling back over the base and disappearing. Notably, Naval Station Norfolk is home to sensitive Navy assets and JB Langley-Eustis is home to US Air Force F-22 Raptors, Military Intelligence units, the Air Force Command and Control Integration Center, and the NASA Langley Research Center. Consequently, the Newport News, Norfolk, Virginia Beach area is a prime target for intelligence collection.
Based on witness reports, the UAS involved in the incursions were likely operated by a state-backed actor and comprised of Group 1 and Group 2/3 UAS. These systems can be operated beyond line of sight, stay airborne for 6+ hours, and have flight ranges of hundreds of miles. They also come equipped with encrypted video and data-link feeds as well as a whole host of signals intelligence (SIGINT) and Electronic Warfare (EW) packages. The UAS flying at 3,000 to 4,000 feet may have been collecting data (electronic signatures, full motion video, radio communications) while the smaller Group 1 objects purposefully drew attention, hence the “flashing red, green, and white lights.”
While there is not enough information at this time to attribute the incursions, just 10 months prior a Chinese surveillance balloon appeared to be collecting SIGINT over the US. Perhaps coincidentally, it was shot down by an F-22 Raptor based out of JB Langley-Eustis.
Multiple Destroyers Tracked Off West Coast
In June of 2022, The War Zone reported that from March through July of 2019, UAS appeared to be conducting collection operations against US Navy Destroyers in the vicinity of San Clemente Island. The War Zone received documents from the Navy via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, which indicated that groups of SUAS with flashing red, green, and white lights were consistently flying near and directly over US Navy ships. Additionally, the objects operated at altitudes between 300 and 21,000 feet, according to tracks from one of the vessel’s AN/SPY-1 radar. And perhaps the most interesting piece of information to come from the FOIA requests is that the Navy assessed a Hong Kong-flagged Merchant Vessel, the MV Bass Strait, was likely using UAS to conduct surveillance on the ships.
While the UAS were operating in international waters and largely flew in accordance with internationally accepted norms, in at least one incident the object performed dangerous maneuvers directly over one of the ships.
Conclusion
Multiple purported whistleblowers have testified before Congress and appeared on multiple podcasts to discuss Unidentified Aerial Phenomena, possibly of their own volition or possibly at the direction of the US Government. Interestingly, multiple supposed whistle blowers maintain their security clearances and have admitted to providing “consulting” work for government agencies. One possible motivation for an information operation of this kind would be to convince the adversary that the government was taking these claims seriously, while it simultaneously worked to improve its counter measures and prepare future responses. On the other hand, the government may be trying to minimize the panic the general public would feel if they found out an adversary was actively collecting intelligence aimed at defeating US air defenses by invading US airspace. Alternatively, US decision makers may just be kicking the can down the road with no real pressure to find solutions as long as the public is worried about aliens.
