Cases and themes
Unidentified drones over bases, ships and towns, including the 2024 New Jersey reports. 92 events, newest first.
Government3 Dec 2024
The FBI's Newark office, New Jersey State Police and the state homeland security office asked the public to report sightings of possible drones, and a possible fixed-wing aircraft, along the Raritan River, saying reports went back several weeks.
Photo: Bjoertvedt, CC BY-SA 4.0
MilitaryDec 2024
Drones of varying size were reported around the U.S. Air Force's Ramstein Air Base in early December 2024, and an Air Force spokesperson confirmed the sightings. The base said it would monitor the airspace with German authorities. Police were then probing similar reports at Bavarian bases.
Photo: Beowulf Tomek, CC BY-SA 4.0
Government27 Nov 2024
UK defence minister Vernon Coaker told Parliament the Ministry of Defence takes safety seriously and keeps robust measures, including counter-drone capabilities, at its sites, as police investigated drones over RAF bases used by U.S. forces.
Photo: Chris McAndrew, CC BY 3.0
Military26 Nov 2024
U.S. Air Forces in Europe said small drones of varying size and number had been seen near and over RAF Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Feltwell since Nov. 20, and its update added RAF Fairford in southwest England. It said none affected base residents, facilities or assets.
Photo: Chris, CC BY-SA 2.0
Government19 Nov 2024
At a Senate hearing, AARO released December 2018 infrared drone video that seemed to show an object passing through Mount Etna's eruption plume. AARO said atmospheric distortion caused the effect and assessed with moderate confidence the object was a balloon drifting with the wind.
Photo: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC, Public domain
Government14 Nov 2024
The Pentagon's AARO reported 757 UAP reports received from May 2023 to June 2024, bringing its caseload above 1,600. It resolved 118 cases to balloons, birds, drones and similar objects, and said it had found no evidence of extraterrestrial beings, activity or technology.
Photo: U.S. Department of Defense, All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, Public domain
SightingsNov 2024
From mid-November 2024 residents across New Jersey and nearby states reported thousands of suspected drones at night. In joint statements the FBI, DHS, FAA and DoD said they found no national security threat and attributed sightings to lawful drones, manned aircraft and stars.
Photo: Chetsford, Public domain
SightingsAug 2024
In August 2024 police in Schleswig-Holstein reported repeated night drone flights over Brunsbuttel's chemical park and LNG terminal, up to five per night. Flensburg prosecutors opened an inquiry on suspicion of sabotage-related espionage; no operator was publicly identified.
Photo: Steffen Papenbroock, CC BY-SA 3.0
Military9 May 2024
Japan's Defense Ministry concluded that footage of the warship Izumo at Yokosuka, posted on Chinese social media in March 2024, was most likely shot by a drone that went undetected. Minister Minoru Kihara pledged faster counter-drone purchases.
Photo: Kurushima Kaikyo Ohashi (Wikimedia Commons user), CC0
Military6 Dec 2023
Starting December 6, 2023, drones of varying size and number repeatedly flew over Langley AFB, home to F-22s, through the month. The Air Force confirmed the incursions, and NORAD-NORTHCOM commander Gen. Gregory Guillot raised them before the Senate in March 2024.
Photo: Tech. Sgt. Natasha Stannard, Public domain
SightingsFeb 2023
In early February 2023 drone reports suspended operations at Dublin Airport on several days, diverting flights to Belfast and Shannon; on one day the airport later said no drone was present. Irish ministers met aviation officials and police, and a man was charged over an earlier January incident.
Photo: Skullical, CC0
Government12 Jan 2023
ODNI's first annual UAP report, written with the new AARO, counted 366 reports beyond the 2021 preliminary assessment, for 510 in total. Initial review characterized 163 as balloon-like, 26 as drone-like and 6 as clutter, leaving 171 uncharacterized.
Photo: Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Public domain
Government28 Oct 2022
The New York Times reported, citing unnamed defense officials, that a classified government review attributed many recent UAP incidents to foreign surveillance, some to Chinese drones, and others to airborne clutter such as weather balloons. Officials did not release the underlying analysis.
Sightings19 Oct 2022
Bergen Airport, near Norway's main naval base, shut for about two and a half hours after drone sightings first reported around 4:15 a.m.; Forde airport also briefly closed. Police said they were sure of at least one drone, and Norway's security service took over the probe.
Photo: Varde / Avinor, CC BY 3.0
Government17 May 2022
At the House Intelligence subcommittee's UAP hearing, Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence Scott Bray said triangle-shaped objects filmed by Navy crews were likely small drones, their shape an effect of light passing through night-vision goggles onto an SLR camera.
Photo: U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Public domain
Government25 Jun 2021
Responding to the ODNI preliminary UAP assessment, Senate Intelligence chair Mark Warner called the report rather inconclusive and said the U.S. must understand and mitigate threats to its pilots, whether from adversary technology, drones or balloons.
Photo: Ryan Donnell, Public domain
SightingsJun 2020
Paul Gait and Elaine Kirk, held for about 36 hours in December 2018 during the Gatwick drone hunt and never charged, sued Sussex Police for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment and were paid 200,000 pounds in compensation and legal costs.
Photo: Andy Mabbett, CC BY-SA 3.0
SightingsDec 2019
From mid-December 2019 residents and deputies in rural Colorado and Nebraska reported nightly drones flying in patterns. The Air Force and FAA said they were not theirs, a federal and state task force found no operators, and Colorado officials later attributed some reports to planes and stars.
Photo: Chris Light, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sightings29 Sep 2019
Security officers at Arizona's Palo Verde nuclear plant reported five or six drones over the site on Sept. 29, 2019, and more the next night. NRC records released under FOIA show the reports went to the NRC, FBI and others; operators were never found and the reports were closed unresolved.
Photo: Cuhlik, Public domain
Sightings27 Sep 2019
Sussex Police ended their inquiry into the December 2018 Gatwick shutdown, saying 109 of 129 drone sightings came from credible witnesses and at least two drones flew. With no realistic lines of enquiry left, no culprit was ever identified.
Photo: Mike McBey, CC BY 2.0
Military14 Jul 2019
Deck logs obtained under FOIA show USS Kidd, Rafael Peralta and other destroyers recording unidentified drones around them near San Clemente Island over several nights from July 14, 2019. In 2021 the Chief of Naval Operations said the aircraft had not been identified.
Photo: San Diego Webcam, CC BY-SA 4.0
Government13 Mar 2019
A wider drone no-fly zone around UK airports took effect, barring drones within 5 km of airports and runways without permission. It followed a government review prompted by the December 2018 drone disruption at Gatwick, which ministers called a deliberate criminal act.
Photo: Chris Sampson, CC BY 2.0
Sightings22 Jan 2019
The FAA briefly halted arrivals at Newark Liberty International after two incoming flights reported a drone at about 3,500 feet over nearby Teterboro Airport. Operations resumed within the hour and the FAA passed the reports to law enforcement.
Photo: Fan Railer, Public domain
Sightings8 Jan 2019
Heathrow stopped departures for about an hour after the Metropolitan Police received a report of a drone near the airport around 17:05 GMT. It came three weeks after drone sightings shut Gatwick; no drone operator was publicly identified.
Photo: Adrian Pingstone, Public domain
Sightings19 Dec 2018
Reported drone sightings over the runway closed London Gatwick from the night of Dec. 19, 2018 into Dec. 21, disrupting tens of thousands of passengers. Sussex Police called it a deliberate act, and the Defence Secretary confirmed the Army was brought in to support police.
Photo: Chris Sampson, CC BY 2.0
