The Wall Street Journal has a strange scoop involving Virginia's Langley Air Force Base. It seems that in December of last year, a sophisticated fleet of drones flew over the base for 17 straight nights—and the military was powerless to stop them. Were they the work of China? Russia? Advanced hobbyists? The Pentagon doesn't know, in part because the military is barred by federal law from shooting down drones unless they pose an "imminent threat." Possible spying doesn't qualify. (The story notes that one potential hazard of shooting one down is that it could endanger local residents.) Reports of the drones reached the highest level of the military—Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly watched them himself—and even President Biden was briefed.
Authorities discussed various options—capturing them with nets, using an energy device to incapacitate them, etc.—but none were deployed before the visits stopped. The piece also reveals that two months earlier, five drones visited a military site in Nevada used for nuclear-weapons experiments. They, too, remain a mystery. Read the full story, which notes that a Chinese student was sentenced to six months in federal prison after he crashed a drone near Langley in January. Authorities discovered he'd taken images of classified naval installations, though he claimed to be an innocent hobbyist. "If he was a foreign agent, he would be the worst spy ever known," said his attorney. (More US Air Force stories.)
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