According to recent reports from the Pentagon, an unidentified fleet of drones breached a US military base in Virginia for 17 consecutive days last year. In December 2023, the unmanned aircraft breached the airspace of Langley Air Force Base along the coast of Virginia in a concerning series of incidents that seemingly exposed vulnerability in the military’s defense capabilities.
Officials claim the drones would arrive approximately 45 minutes to an hour after the sun had set each night. Furthermore, officials were reportedly unable to determine if the drones were piloted by hobbyists or if they were flown in by a foreign adversarial nation for nefarious purposes. The activity sparked concerns among top-ranking officials within the U.S. military.
U.S. Air Force General Mark Kelly explained that the first drone he observed was nearly 20 feet long flying at speeds of over 100 miles per hour. The drone in this incident was reportedly flying at an altitude of approximately 3,000 to 4,000 feet. The fleet of unmanned air craft were observed flying across the Chesapeake Bay toward Norfolk, Virginia. In their flight path they were able to travel through airspace and observe military bases and Naval Station Norfolk.
Social media users reacted to the noting how concerning it is for the drones to have breached the airspace surrounding a U.S. military air space. “This situation does not fill the average citizen with confidence in our military leaders. Drones entering restricted air space should have been neutralized immediately. What were the leaders waiting for….a disaster they would not be able to explain adequately??” one person wrote on X.
“Our great Biden-Harris Defense Department at work (sort of)! They can’t even trace large drones over critical military facilities! What if they were armed? Too much focus on DEI rather than on merit and training!” one person wrote, voicing a commonly held sentiment that the U.S. military should focus on meritocracy and the ability to defend the nation instead of prioritizing DEI.
“No one fears or respects our current leadership. Just testing to see how far they can go. With all the illegals that have come in, no doubt we will see acts of terrorism on American soil again. We need Trump not DEI crap,” another person said, calling for leadership to tighten up. “Great. With Trump, they wouldn’t get to day 2. Our country is compromised,” another user wrote.
“5 unknown drones flyer over NV nuclear weapons site. 2 months later, dozens fly over strategic VA bases for 17 days. “Weather balloon” flies over the whole country before that. DOD response: Let’s just stand on the roof and watch, then have a 2 wk meeting. That’ll show ’em!” another user wrote, referencing the similar incident from early 2023 in which a weather balloon from China traveled across U.S. airspace for days without deterrent before finally being shot down by the U.S. Air Force.
“I’m genuinely curious how over 17 days they couldn’t follow these “drones” to its original location. it makes me believe these aren’t infact drones and just another typical case of UFOs swarming the military,” one person said, offering wild speculation to the origins of the drone activity over American airspace.
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Featured image credit: Air Force Staff Sgt. Brittany A. Chase, DOD, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aerial_Closeup_of_the_Pentagon,_May_11,_2021.jpg
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