US Military Bases, Sensitive Sites Targeted by Drones for Years

‘Those that are over our military sites are adversarial and most likely are coming from the People’s Republic of China,’ Rep. Michael McCaul said.

Illustration by The Epoch Times

A sudden spike in unidentified drone sightings near sensitive government sites is unnerving residents and lawmakers alike.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Dec. 17 that it is banning drone flights over 22 critical infrastructure locations in response to the incidents, though the White House maintains that there is no credible threat to public safety.

The concern follows more than a month of reported drone sightings in or near the airspace of airports and military facilities in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia, as well as overseas bases in Germany and the UK.

In all, the FBI said it has received more than 5,000 reports of drone sightings in the past month, of which the agency said about 100 warranted further investigation.

Below is a timeline of the most notable confirmed sightings.

Dec. 16: Hill Air Force Base, Utah

Several drone sightings are confirmed at Hill Air Force Base in Utah on Dec. 16. One drone flies close to the fuel storage at the facility.

A spokesperson for the base later tells local media that the base is undertaking measures to safeguard personnel, equipment, and infrastructure, but that the incidents have not impacted operations.

The base houses the Ogden Air Logistics Complex, which oversees the management of a wide range of aircraft, missiles, and software for the military. It is also home to several dozen advanced F-35 fighter aircraft.

Drone encounters in this location began in 2022 and have continued intermittently to the present.

F-35A's of Hill Air Force Base's 388th and 419th fighter wings land and taxi after a training exercise at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, on Nov. 19, 2018. George Frey/Getty Images

Dec. 13–17: Wright–Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

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White House national security spokesperson John Kirby tells reporters that drones penetrated the restricted airspace around several military complexes, including Wright–Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, which houses the Air Force’s and Space Force’s national intelligence centers.

The number of drones, their type, and their formation fluctuated from Dec. 13 through Dec. 17, a base spokesperson tells Stars and Stripes, a Department of Defense-managed publication.

No damage or threat is reported, but at least one incident forces the facility to close its airfields for four hours.

Dec. 14: Logan International Airport, Massachusetts

Local police in Boston arrest two men for allegedly operating a drone “dangerously close” to Logan International Airport.

The police used drone monitoring technology to track the operators’ position on a nearby island. There, they confronted three individuals who fled on foot. Two of the three were taken into custody and charged with trespassing, while a third escaped by boat and remains at large.

An aerial view of Logan Aiport in Boston on Sept. 9, 2012. David Wilson/CC

Dec. 13: Stewart International Airport, New York

The Stewart International Airport is forced to close its runways for an hour while an unidentified drone flies around the facility.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul urges Congress to pass a bill that would give state authorities the legal authority to shoot drones down, saying that a “state-of-the-art drone detection system” loaned out by the federal government is not enough.

Dec. 9–15: Camp Pendleton, California

Unidentified drones violate the restricted airspace six times in a six-day period at Camp Pendleton, one of the U.S. Marine Corps’ largest bases and a center of its training activities.

A spokesperson for the base tells The Epoch Times that there is no threat to operations at the installation, without elaborating.

“Force protection considerations restricts our ability to provide further information to ensure the operational security of the installation and the safety and welfare of the base population and the surrounding areas,” the spokesperson says.

A view of the main entrance to Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif., on July 26, 2019. Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images

Dec. 3: Ramstein Air Base, Germany

Unauthorized drones fly over the sprawling Ramstein Air Base in western Germany. The facility is a major hub for the U.S. military and houses NATO’s central command for all allied air and space forces.

Local police tell Stars and Stripes that the drones had previously been tracked flying over the site of a major multinational chemical corporation, and anonymous sources say the drones were not of a type associated with hobby use.

Ramstein Air Base in Germany. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Justin Ward/CC BY 2.0

Nov. 30: Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

Chinese national Yinpiao Zhou allegedly flies an unregistered drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

Zhou allegedly uses the drone to photograph SpaceX rocket pads on the same day the company is launching a sensitive national reconnaissance payload from the base.

On Dec. 6, federal agents would arrest Zhou at San Francisco International Airport as he prepared to board a China-bound flight, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles.

A United Launch Alliance Delta IV-Heavy rocket carrying a National Reconnaissance Office payload launches from Space Launch Complex-6 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., on Aug. 28, 2013. Public Domain

Nov. 22: Trump National Golf Club, New Jersey

The FAA closes the airspace over the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster after sightings of several drones and a fixed-winged aircraft flying along the 70-mile Raritan River in Somerset and Middlesex counties in New Jersey.

President-elect Donald Trump, who owns the golf course and maintains a home in nearby Bedminster, would later say he canceled a trip to the area because of the continued presence of the drones.

Trump would add in a post on Truth Social that the drones should be shot down if the government does not know where they are coming from.

The evening sky and points of light near Lebanon Township, N.J., on Dec. 5, 2024. Trisha Bushey via AP

Nov. 20: RAF Lakenheath, England

Drones are tracked around four separate military bases in England: Royal Air Force Lakenheath, Mildenhall, Feltwell, and Fairford.

Lakenheath serves as the base for the U.S. Air Forces in Europe’s only fighter wing of fifth-generation F-35 aircraft; Mildenhall serves as the base for the 100th Air Refueling Wing; Feltwell functions as a center for housing, schools, and other essential services; and Fairford hosts the 501st Combat Support Wing Headquarters and the 420th Air Base Squadron.

Sixty British troops are reportedly drafted to help the U.S. forces investigate the incident and determine who is responsible for flying the drones.

An aerial view of a miltary facility at R.A.F. Lakenheath in the UK on Aug. 25, 2017. R.A.F. Lakenheath and Thetford Forest: aerial 2017 by Chris/CC BY-SA 2.0

Nov. 13: Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey

A local commander says drones violated the airspace of Picatinny Arsenal at least 11 times in November. The facility serves as the U.S. Army’s primary center for arms and munitions research and development.

The confirmed sightings mean that on 11 occasions, a police officer or security guard witnessed a drone after receiving a report of one, according to the facility’s garrison commander. Local officers were unable to confirm seven additional reports.

“While the source and cause of these aircraft operating in our area remain unknown, we can confirm that they are not the result of any Picatinny Arsenal-related activities,” Lt. Col. Craig Bonham says in a statement shared with The Epoch Times.

Aug. 20: Air Force Plant 42, California

Military officials confirm to online news site The War Zone that numerous unidentified drones had flown over Plant 42 near Palmdale, California.

Plant 42 is a classified aircraft manufacturing facility owned by the U.S. Air Force and also used by NASA.

The number of unidentified objects spotted fluctuated and “ranged in size and configuration,” according to a statement made to the outlet by a press officer at Edwards Air Force Base, of which the facility serves as a satellite.

An aerial view of United States Air Force Plant 42 near Palmdale, Calif. Public Domain

2023: Langley Air Force Base, Virginia

An unidentified swarm of drones reportedly fly in restricted airspace around Langley Air Force Base over the course of several nights.

The drones fly in formation and include fixed-wing drones and quadcopters. They also appear to operate around other U.S. military installations in Virginia, including the world’s largest naval port—Naval Station Norfolk—and another installation serving as headquarters for the elite SEAL Team Six.

Fengyun Shi, a Chinese student at the University of Minnesota, would later be arrested before he could board a flight to China. Shi would plead guilty to flying his drone over a classified naval installation to photograph U.S. military vessels, according to local media.

An aerial view of Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia, on Dec. 3, 2011. Public Domain

2020: Colorado and Nebraska

A swarm of large drones is sighted in the skies over rural Colorado and Nebraska for several weeks, near the storage site of some of the nation’s Minuteman III nuclear missiles.

Local officials eventually say no laws were being broken and that drone pilots are not required to file flight plans unless in controlled airspace, such as near an airport.

Similarly, the FBI, the FAA, and local authorities never publicly identify who was operating the drones and suggest that most of the sightings are attributable to hobby drones and people misidentifying planets and stars as aircraft.

2020: Joint Base Andrews, Maryland

Federal authorities open an investigation into a report that a drone came within close range of then-President Donald Trump’s aircraft while he was traveling to Maryland from New Jersey.

Federal officials never publicly identify the operator of the drone nor publicly acknowledge the conclusion of the investigation.

2019: US Navy Group, California

Groups of large drones are reported off the coast of California, stalking and surveilling several Navy and Coast Guard ships, including the technically advanced missile destroyer USS Zumwalt.

The incident raises alarm bells throughout the military and triggers a joint investigation by elements of the U.S. Navy, Coast Guard, and FBI. Members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commander of the Pacific Fleet are kept primed with updates on the situation.

Aircraft carrier the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) leaves its San Diego homeport on Jan. 17, 2020. U.S. Navy via Getty Images

Neither the White House nor the Department of Defense acknowledge what the drones were seeking to accomplish or who was flying them.

Investigative reports published by The War Zone in 2021 and 2022, however, would reveal that ship logs from one of the Navy vessels involved had identified the source of the drones as the MV Bass Strait, a Hong Kong-flagged bulk carrier.

Drones Highlight Weaknesses in US Security

Though government officials have said the recently sighted drones pose no imminent threat to public safety, the lack of a response has raised concern that the United States is unprepared to deter the use of drones for espionage or even attacks on its military bases.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified on Dec. 15 that the federal government doesn’t have the legal authority to engage drones that are not within restricted airspace and suggested that local law enforcement should take the lead “under federal supervision.”

Likewise, Kirby told reporters that many of the 5,000 reports of drone sightings over the past week were attributable to hobbyists, commercial drones, and people misidentifying stars as aircraft.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House on July 15, 2024. Samuel Corum/AFP via Getty Images

“If we had information, intelligence or otherwise, that told us that there was a national security threat posed by this drone activity, I would say that,” Kirby said.

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, however, has warned that some drones that were spotted flying near military installations could be “adversarial” and deployed by the Chinese Communist Party.

“We need to identify who is behind these drones,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told reporters on Dec. 17.

“My judgment, based on my experience, is that those that are over our military sites are adversarial and most likely are coming from the People’s Republic of China.”