A mysterious fleet of drones repeatedly breached restricted airspace over a U.S. military base in Virginia for 17 consecutive days late last year, leaving the Pentagon puzzled, according to a new report from the Wall Street Journal. In December 2023, U.S. military personnel stationed at Langley Air Force Base along the Virginia coast reported spotting a swarm of unidentified drones entering restricted airspace each night. The drones, which would begin appearing 45 minutes to an hour after sunset, caused significant concern among military officials. One of the officials who witnessed the drones, U.S. Air Force General Mark Kelly, described the first drone he saw as being approximately 20 feet long and traveling at speeds of over 100 miles per hour at altitudes of 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Kelly was joined by other officers responsible for overseeing some of the country’s most advanced fighter jets, including the F-22 Raptors. The drones were reported to fly across Chesapeake Bay and over areas including Naval Station Norfolk, the world’s largest naval port, and the base for the Navy’s SEAL Team Six. The origins of the drones remain a mystery, with U.S. officials unable to determine whether the fleet was operated by hobbyists or adversarial nations such as China or Russia. The incident raised alarm at the highest levels, prompting two weeks of meetings at the White House in December 2023. These meetings included representatives from the Defense Department, FBI, and the Pentagon’s UFO office, as well as external experts. This was not the first time unknown drones breached sensitive U.S. airspace. Two months prior to the Virginia sightings, five unidentified drones were detected over a government nuclear weapons experiment site in Nevada. While four drones were detected by the Energy Department’s security systems, the fifth was spotted by staff. Despite upgraded detection systems, officials have yet to identify the source behind either the Virginia or Nevada drone incidents. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)