A new report claims that dozens of mysterious drones and other flying objects have attempted to spy on sensitive U.S. military bases and that the Pentagon has acknowledged that there is not much it can do to prevent drones from continuing to spy on U.S. bases.
According to The Wall Street Journal, unidentified drones have flown over U.S. military bases in Virginia and Nevada over the past year and have spied on Naval Station Norfolk and the Navy’s SEAL Team Six commando unit. However, the outlet reported that federal laws have prevented the Pentagon from taking action and shooting down the drones due to concerns that debris from the drones could harm Americans if it fell to the ground.
The recent report also claimed that the Biden-Harris administration has discussed jamming the signal of the mysterious drones; however, the idea was ruled against due to concerns that jamming the signal of the drones could negatively impact Wi-Fi, commercial airlines, and 911 emergency systems.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Gen Glen VanHerck, who the effort to shoot down the controversial Chinese spy balloon, has advised Defense Department Secretary Lloyd Austin to have teams eavesdrop on the mysterious drones and other flying objects. “If there are unknown objects within North America,” VanHerck said, adding that the goal is “to go out and identify them.”
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Former U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly was first notified of the mysterious drone sightings by Langley Air Force Base officials in December of 2023, according to The Wall Street Journal. The officials claimed that fleets of drones could be seen flying over the Virginia base at night. The outlet noted that the drones were spotted for a period of roughly 17 days, leading officials to question whether the drones were part of a Chinese or Russian spy operation.
Despite housing some of the country’s most advanced stealth weapons, such as the F-22 Raptor fighter jets, the U.S. military was not permitted to shoot the drones down since spying on the base was not considered an imminent threat.
While the identity of the drones remains a mystery, officials did discover that one drone spotted near Langley Air Force Base was flown by 26-year-old Fengyun Shi. The Federal Bureau of Investigation found that Shi had taken photos of Navy ships at the base after officials discovered an abandoned drone belonging to Shi that was stuck in a tree in January.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Shi was later arrested and pleaded guilty to espionage.
