Case · C-098

Langley: drone swarms over the F-22 base for seventeen nights

Langley Air Force Base (Joint Base Langley-Eustis), Hampton, Virginia · United States · Dec 2023

In flight Mixed witness types Video

What happened

In December 2023, for about seventeen evenings, groups of drones flew over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, home of F-22 fighters; according to General Mark Kelly, who observed them, there were 20–30 reports per evening, always shortly after sunset. The then commander of NORAD and U.S. Northern Command, General Glen VanHerck, said he had sent fighters, radar aircraft and helicopters to characterize them, but that the radars were not designed to detect low-altitude drones; a base spokesman confirmed that the number and configuration of the devices varied. A resident filmed the lights with his phone and handed the videos over to the FBI.

Proposed explanation

Military personnel described them as unmanned aerial systems (drones) of different sizes and configurations; who flew them and for what purpose has not been disclosed.

Official investigation

NORAD and Northern Command; U.S. Air Force (Joint Base Langley-Eustis); FBI

Sources

1. CBS News, 60 Minutes, “How the U.S. is confronting the threat posed by drones swarming sensitive national security sites”, March 16, 2025 (press)
2. The War Zone, “Mysterious Drones Swarmed Langley AFB For Weeks”, March 15, 2024 (press)
3. Wikipedia – 2024 United States drone sightings (context) (other)

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