Witness Statements Reveal Alarming 'Drone' Incursions Over Langley Air Force Base As Dronebusters Failed to Intercept Objects
Written by Kyle Warfel and Christopher Sharp - 14 September 2024
Liberation Times has obtained twenty-two witness statements and an incident report through a Freedom of Information Act request, following December 2023 ‘drone’ incursions reported over Langley Air Force Base, Virginia.
These statements come from members of the 633d Security Forces Squadron, who are responsible for guarding Joint Base Langley-Eustis.
Witnesses reported observing the so-called ‘drones’ ‘moving at rapid speeds’ and displaying ‘flashing red, green, and white lights’.
Concerningly, one witness stated that their dronebuster ‘failed to register’ one of the objects, while another was unable to use a dronebuster ‘due to not having a visual’.
The objects were spotted in various areas around the base, including the flight line, which is used for servicing and maintaining airplanes, as well as for parking ramps and hangars
The Base Defense Operations Center (BDOC), according to one witness, contacted the local police department, ‘to assist with tracking drones in residential areas off-base’.
Another witness stated that through using night vision goggles, the ‘drone’, ‘had two flashing white lights plus a red and green light on opposing ends of the craft.’
The witness added:
‘The drone was flying north east over the River Point West. After about 30 seconds the drone abruptly changed directions heading 140 degrees South East of my location into the wood line.’
Witnesses record seeing swarms of objects in the area, with one stating:
‘On 6 December 2023, between the hours of approximately 1830 and 2300, I witnessed between 15 and 20 sUAS [small Unmanned Aircraft Systems] enter and leave the installation at various different locations as [redacted].
‘We did constant sector sweeps around the installation, but I was unable to utilize [redacted]. The most common locations were [redacted] King Street Gate and Ward Road coming towards the flightline. On 7 December 2023 I was posted at Golf-3 and became a mobile unit after 2000 hrs. I saw approximately 6 sUAS throughout the night at the parking lot near building 330 and near Ward Road heading towards King Street Gate, [redacted].
‘On 11 December 2023 I was posted at [redacted] and was dispatched approximately 3 times on the flightline but was unable to utilize the drone buster due to not having a visual on the possible sUAS. On 15 December 2023 I was posted at [redacted] and was dispatched one time to conduct an IVA [Initial Visual Assessment] on a possible sUAS but was unable to get a visual due to dense fog.’
On 6 December, another witness recalled seeing nine drones in a diamond formation heading for the base’s flight line:
‘I spotted nine (09) drones in diamond formation flying over [redacted] heading towards the Flight Line. [Redacted] and I followed the swarm onto the flight line where we lost visual of the swarm over the bay.’
Despite no evidence presented that all objects seen were drones, one witness stated that they were ‘able to verify’ that one of the objects seen on 7 December 2023 was a fixed wing drone, despite other witnesses recalling how objects would hover.
The events call into question the security of U.S. airbases, despite U.S. defense spending reaching almost $900 billion.
Liberation Times has reached out to the Department of Defense (DoD) for a response on its ability to secure airspace against drones and Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP).
A United States Air Force spokesperson responded:
“We don’t discuss our specific force protection measures but retain the right to protect our installations.
“The Air Force continues to monitor our air space and work with local law enforcement and other federal agencies to ensure the safety of base personnel, facilities, and assets.”
The threat posed by drones to defense installations has grown significantly in recent years. Ukraine recently claimed to have attacked four Russian air bases using drones, highlighting this escalating risk.
Langley Air Force Base is of particular importance for U.S. security, being one of a select few bases hosting F-22 Raptor stealth fighters and for supporting NORAD and NORTHCOM’s missions to protect the U.S. homeland, including the capital, Washington, D.C.
The area is also home to important U.S. Navy and commercial shipyards and a host of other critical defense installations.
Such was the risk posed by the objects in December 2023, an entire fighter wing was relocated to another base.
Speaking with Liberation Times, a retired USAF veteran with extensive base security experience, who served in both Air Combat Command and Special Operations Command, stated:
‘If these are drones with cameras I’d suspect China or a “near-peer”.
‘I’d like to know more. This is disconcerting, to say the least. If there were a potential non-human UAP over the base, I wouldn’t be surprised if security forces would put out a false report to throw people off of the “real story.”’
An official incident report was filed by personnel at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, including officers ranked O-3 (Captain) and O-5 (Lieutenant Colonel).
The report includes claims that on 6 December 2023, ‘drones’ were witnessed with cameras, sparking concerns of possible foreign surveillance:
‘On 6 December 2023, at 1845 hrs [redacted] contacted BDOC [Base Defense Operations Center] to report a possible drone sighting over the Shellbank Fitness Center travelling towards [redacted] near the NASA [redacted] BDOC [Base Defense Operations Center] directed all posts and patrols to initiate sector sweeps.
‘Throughout the duration of the incident, there were an estimated 15-20 drones over Langley AFB and Bethel Manor. The drones were approximately 3’ x 3’, with four rotors, and had cameras. They consistently stayed around 1500’-2000’ in the air.
‘They primarily focussed on the following locations: [redacted] the Bay near Ward Rd. The Marina [redacted] Housing, and [redacted]. The drones were consistently egressing south towards King Street in Hampton and Northeast towards Poquoson. The response lasted until 2330 hrs. At 0020 hrs and 0120 hrs, patrols conducted sector sweeps and initiated LP/ OPs with negative findings. At 0125 hrs, Security Forces terminated their response.’
However, The Hill opinion contributor Marik Von Rennenkampff holds some doubts on whether the objects represented foreign surveillance activities, telling Liberation Times:
‘The multiple, consistent reports of bright, flashing lights and formation flying suggest that some actor - be it a drone operator or otherwise - was putting on a show of impunity, at considerable risk, over a key military facility.
‘If this was a foreign intelligence gathering operation, the brazen nature of the incursions makes it some of the worst collection tradecraft imaginable.’
Von Rennenkampff also drew parallels with other so-called ‘drone’ incidents involving U.S. defense assets, highlighting that anti-drone defenses failed to shoot down objects.
He commented:
‘Notably, in at last one instance, counter-drone technology “failed to register the drone.”’
‘Given the striking similarities to other bizarre incidents - such as multiple objects with flashing red, green, and white lights that swarmed Navy ships more than one hundred miles off the Southern California coast over the course of several months in 2019, objects with flashing lights that hovered soundlessly over nuclear missile installations in the Great Plains in 2019-2020, and multiple flashing objects observed over the U.S. Air Force Goldwater Range in Arizona - I suspect that there may be a connection.
‘Somehow, despite the array of sophisticated sensors at many of these locations, not a single video or photograph of a conventional drone has emerged.’
Despite their ‘comprehensive’ intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, commanders were forced to deploy one of NASA’s WB-57F high-flying research planes to assist in tackling the objects.
Speaking about this, Von Rennenkampff added:
‘The activation of a specialized NASA aircraft, equipped with what may be the most sophisticated airborne camera system in the world, suggests that the U.S. government was truly baffled by these incidents.’
As of now, the DoD has not confirmed whether the objects were definitively identified as drones, either through recovery or other means. The origin and operators of the objects also remain unidentified.
However, one witness confirmed seeing one suspicious individual outside of the base:
‘I was leaving base out of main gate, made a right turn and saw across the street from base a white male, grey hoodie, standing next to a white/black smart car holding a giant remote looking up and flying what seemed to be a R/C [remote controlled] something. His car had a bunch of antenn[ae[ on the roof.’
Responding to this statement, Von Rennenkampff again drew parallels to other cases, where there was unfounded speculation about possible suspects.
‘Reports of an individual standing alongside a car with antennae on the roof must be investigated thoroughly. Notably, however, law enforcement determined that a nearly identical report of a “command vehicle” with a “large antenna” during the 2019-2020 Great Plains incidents was unfounded “speculation.’
Matthew Pines, a civilian intelligence analyst, also cast doubt on theories suggesting that a single individual could be responsible for the incursions and emphasized the serious national security implications of these incidents. Pines told Liberation Times:
“The sheer number and persistence of the disruptive and mysterious overflights of such a sensitive military base (which also houses a NASA research facility) as well as the manifest failure of deployed C-UAS systems (Dronebuster) is a serious national security issue.
‘The individual seen with a remote should have been interviewed obviously, but it’s unlikely a single reckless hobbyist could have controlled this many UAVs. This was either hostile foreign intelligence surveillance activity demonstrating free rein to disrupt a military facility or something more exotic. Either option is not comforting.”
One civilian witness witness, Jonathan Butner, who had previously spoken to Liberation Times and provided video footage, gave testimony to the FBI. This Butner captured sightings on film, reporting orb and saucer-shaped objects circling and hovering above and near the base on 14 December, a later date than most witness accounts.
Butner’s testimony may be corroborated by the newly obtained witness accounts, with one witness describing one incursion on 15 December, hours after Butner’s sighting. The witness from the 663d Security Forces Squadron stated:
‘On 15 December 2023 at approximately 0540, 1 [redacted] was dispatched to the parking lot of bldg [building] 708 fuel farms for a possible SUAS sighting. Upon arrival, I did not observe anything over the fuel farms or back towards the [redacted]. At Approximately 0545, a [redacted] showed up on the scene stating that he had just come from the [redacted] and had observed the SUAS coming from the area down Sweeney blvd closer to bldg 775 heading towards the Bay area and the end of the runway.
‘After approx 10 minutes, the [redacted] informed me there was a second sighting over the flight line and bldgs 789, 790 and 791. I repositioned myself to the back parking lot of bldg 775. I observed the SUAS over the airfield heading towards the bay on the east side of base. I attempted to engage the SUAS with [redacted].
‘The SUAS then continued out of my sight towards the bay. At approximately 0605, the [redacted] then dispatched me to the parking lot of bldg 330 for a sighting hovering above the bldg. I swept the area surrounding bldg 330 with negative findings. The [redacted] cleared me to return to normal operations.
‘At approximately 0620, BDOC then dispatched me for a reported sighting above the Armistead gate heading over the trees toward the Lasalle gate. I swept up Sweeney blvd, across Elm St and down Nealy Ave[nue] with negative findings, [redacted] at the Lasalle Gate informed BDOC that he observed the SUAS heading off the installation down Lasalle Ave.’
A USAF spokesperson from Langley Air Force Base confirmed the incidents to Liberation Times earlier this year, reiterating a message that had been provided to other publications.
The spokesperson stated:
“The installation first observed UAS activities the evening of December 6 and experienced multiple incursions throughout the month of December. The number of UASs fluctuated and they ranged in size/configuration. None of the incursions appeared to exhibit hostile intent but anything flying in our restricted airspace can pose a threat to flight safety. The FAA was made aware of the UAS incursions.
“To protect operational security, we do not discuss impacts to operations.
“We don’t discuss our specific force protection measures but retain the right to protect the installation. Langley continues to monitor our air space and work with local law enforcement and other federal agencies to ensure the safety of base personnel, facilities, and assets.”
Tommy Turner, a member of the Facebook group ‘Drone Pilots of Virginia’ told Liberation Times that the government’s official story was suspect due to the sophisticated drone detection provisions available to the USAF and the use of similar systems at Formula One events:
‘The whole story is suspect. Most military bases and sensitive government facilities have sophisticated drone detection and anti-drone technology.
‘While it might be possible to fly over or onto base it is very likely the drone will be disrupted and if controlled locally, the operator's location pinpointed. If the drone(s) are brought down, the resources available to investigate the origin are vast.
‘There are examples of this type of technology at work at the Las Vegas Formula 1 event.’
Liberation Times found one company, COPTRZ, which was tasked with protecting a Formula One event in the United Kingdom.
On its case study page, the company detailed how it retrieved drone serial numbers, identified the drone models, and detected the individuals operating them. The case study read:
‘Multiple radiofrequency and optical forms of detection were used to provide a complete solution to all UAVs.
‘The technology was able to retrieve details on the drones’ serial numbers and model. It also located its route, altitude and speed. It was even able to detect the individuals operating them. This allowed them to inform the organisers of any unplanned flight activity.’
This stands in contrast with the Langley ‘drone’ incursions which persisted despite the counter uncrewed aerial systems technologies available to the USAF, such as ‘dronebusters’, which were used unsuccessfully by Security Forces protecting Joint Base Langley-Eustis in December 2023.
The dronebuster is described by the USAF as a ‘handheld non-kinetic mitigation device that can detect groups of one to five UAS and jam signal between drone and controller.’
Other countermeasures available to the USAF allow security personnel to take control of drones and safely land them so that personnel can take custody.
Another member of the Virginia drone group, Justin Malveaux, also cast doubt on the notion that any of the activity over Langley could be attributed to hobbyists or foreign surveillance after reviewing the details of the incursions:
‘It's an absolute certainty they'll be caught and it's rather easy. I don't think it's hobbyists.
‘This is much more serious than flying over a stadium. You risk additional federal charges flying over a military installation. That's a risk most won't take.’
Malveaux added:
‘[I] highly doubt that's a foreign government (spy). They would have covered or disabled the lights to avoid detection.’
Intelligence and defense sources have informed Liberation Times that the possibility of foreign surveillance activity remains questionable.
Despite no clear evidence that the objects were identified as drones, the DoD confirmed to Liberation Times that the U.S. government’s UAP Office, known as the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), which is tasked with investigating unidentified airborne objects, received no reports about the December 2023 incidents.
Summarising the UAP versus drone debate when it comes to the events over Langley Air Force Base in December 2023, Von Rennenkampff told Liberation Times:
“Unless and until video or photographic evidence of drones emerges, as it has in other cases, I remain agnostic about these perplexing incidents.”
The full document containing witness statements and incident report can be found here.
