Washington

For 17 straight days in December last year, America's finest security officials were left baffled as a swarm of mysterious and unidentified aircraft flew over Langley Air Force Base on Virginia’s shoreline. 

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US Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly witnessed the sightings every night, with the drones looking like constellations moving in the night sky, according to a report in Wall Street Journal.

“Close Encounters at Langley," Kelly said. 

Despite having the best resources to track the mysterious objects, the US military failed to catch them. The objects were flying at around 100mph at 3,000 to 4,000 feet, with witnesses saying they sounded like a parade of lawnmowers.

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Gen. Glen VanHerck, the then commander of the US Northern Command and the North America Defense Command, claimed that drones had been spotted in the area for years but the nightly matinee over Langley was unlike any past incursion. 

After the eerie daily night show was reported to US President Joe Biden, it triggered two weeks of meetings at the White House, involving officials from the Pentagon, including staff from its UFO office and the FBI.

Several ways, including shooting nets to catch the drones and using electronic signals to jam their navigation system, were suggested but none of them made the cut. 

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Training cancelled, F-22 grounded 

Such was the fear of the drones that Langley officials cancelled nighttime training missions and moved the F-22 jet fighters to another base. Meanwhile, residents at the base shared sighting stories as well as blurry pictures of the drones on private Facebook groups.  

US officials confirmed this month that more unidentified drone swarms were spotted in recent months near Edwards Air Force Base, north of Los Angeles.

“The number of UASs [uncrewed aerial systems] 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.”

Also read | US: Pentagon's new website aims to answer all your queries about UFOs

Langley officials did circle around a University of Minnesota student named Fengyun Shi whose drone when caught, revealed images of Navy vessels in dry dock, including shots taken around midnight.

The 26-year-old Chinese national told FBI agents he was a ship enthusiast and hadn’t realised his drone crossed into restricted airspace. Despite not being convinced, the FBI could not find any evidence linking him to the Chinese. Fengyun has since pleaded guilty and appeared in the court but Langley officials are yet to identify who flew the swarm of drones. 

Notably, under the US law, the military is only allowed to shoot down drones over military bases if they pose a direct threat. Even if they are suspected of snooping, which is illegal, they cannot be brought down. Members of Congress have called for more powers to be given to the military in such instances to avoid the events that took place in December last year. 

(With inputs from agencies)