Well, if you needed a reminder that our government is having a hard time keeping up with the times, here it is: a mysterious fleet of drones has been flying around Langley Air Force Base, home to some of our most advanced fighter jets and national security secrets, and no one seems to know who’s behind it—or what to do about it.
U.S. Air Force General Mark Kelly got up on the squadron rooftop to witness the drones himself, probably wondering how it was possible that a bunch of high-tech lawnmowers were cruising over restricted airspace like they owned the place. And yet, after 17 days of nightly incursions, we’re still scratching our heads.
Now, let’s get this straight. Drones are flying over a base that houses F-22 Raptors and other military assets, zipping around at 100 miles an hour, and we can’t shoot them down because… they don’t pose an “imminent threat”? Oh, but don’t worry. Federal agencies are having meetings and throwing out suggestions like using nets or electronic jamming. You know, like we’re trying to catch a rogue dog at the park, not defending critical U.S. military installations.
Drones swarmed a U.S. military base, specifically identified as Langley Air Force Base in some reports, for 17 days The Pentagon’s cannot identify the operators of these drones pic.twitter.com/U5OHIHFjdM
— NewsTimeLive (@NewsTimeLive) October 13, 2024
And just to pile on the absurdity, these drones are so small and stealthy that they’re practically invisible to our radar systems—systems that had to be recalibrated because they were ignoring anything that resembled a bird. You can’t make this stuff up.
As if the Langley situation wasn’t bad enough, two months earlier, drones were spotted flying over a nuclear weapons testing site in Nevada. Yes, you read that right—drones casually breezing over a nuclear testing site. And still, no one knows where these drones are coming from or who’s flying them. Russia? China? Clever hobbyists with too much time on their hands? Take your pick.
Mystery drones in the USA? According to the Wall Street Journal for at least 17 days unknown drones did surveillance and probed security at Langley Air Force Base and Norfolk Naval Station in America.
Both bases are on the American coast.
There were so many drones the WSJ… pic.twitter.com/qFSuUh0xg9
— James Porrazzo (@JamesPorrazzo) October 14, 2024
Even when authorities thought they had a breakthrough, arresting a Chinese student named Fengyun Shi who was caught taking midnight photos of naval vessels, they ended up with a dud. Shi, who claimed to be a “ship enthusiast,” was arrested and sentenced to six months, and still, no connection was made between him and the drone swarms. If he was a spy, he might go down as the worst one ever.
So here we are—swarms of drones zipping around our airspace, spy balloons floating across the country, and all we can do is throw our hands up and hope for the best. Meanwhile, our military is moving fighter jets to other bases just to avoid potential drone collisions. It’s almost like a bad episode of X-Files, but this is real life, folks.
Maybe it’s time we rethink those “rules of engagement” before the next drone decides to swing by the National Mall.
