The US armed services has been leave nonplus by the repeated appearance of cloud of drones around one of its air bases , and a web site used for nuclear - weapons experiment .

In December 2023 , US military personnel reported swarms of as yet nameless aircraft flying over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia . The aircraft , estimated by US Air Force General Mark Kelly to be around 6 metre ( 20 feet ) long and locomote at over 160 kilometers per hr ( 100 sea mile per hour ) , made repeated visits to the air base , usually beginning 45 minute to an time of day after sundown .

Kelly toldThe Wall Street Journal(WSJ ) that the aircraft arrive over the stem , fly off , and return over the form of 17 nights , describing the incidents as " Close encounter at Langley " . During the encounters , several of the drones give out small amount of light , making them wait like a constellation of moving stars , before the aircraft normally disappeared before midnight .

The US war machine was unable to shoot down the drones , their usual muscle memory response , as it could expose the world in the vicinity . Instead , local constabulary in Hampton , Virginia , trailed the drone by railroad car and on foot over the course of two nights , begin on December 6 . Three appear to land in Gosnold ’s Hope Park during this eccentric chase , but returned to the line before the police could get to them , while another look to set ashore offshore .

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A few months prior to the arrival of the aircraft at Langley , five drones were also run into fly over the Energy Department ’s Nevada Nuclear Security Site outside Las Vegas , with four of these occurring over the course of three day .

The incidents , and breach of restricted air space , were taken very gravely by researcher , with President Biden being brief about the situation shortly after it began in December . Despite an investigation by the Defense Department , the Federal Bureau of Investigation , and the Pentagon’sUFOoffice , it remains unclear what on the dot is going on . Possible explanations , according to the WSJ , include that Russia or China deploy the drones to prove the US response , or that they were operated by hobbyist .

Either direction , the visit stopped on December 23 . It ’s nice that Russia / China / alien / inexpert hobbyists honor the holiday time of year .