In yet another drone incident over the United States, a mission launched to intercept the drone near the capital region caused a delay in the landing of the VIP C-32A military transport aircraft.
The incident comes amid growing clamor for solving the mystery of unusual drone sightings across the country.
A U.S. Coast Guard MH-65 helicopter (call sign BLACKJACK01) and two U.S. Air National Guard F-16C Vipers (Call signs Brave01 and Brave 02) were dispatched to intercept a “potential drone” flying near the capital region, delaying the landing of the C-32A VIP transport jet on a special air mission (SAM) at Joint Base Andrews on January 25.
This was revealed in an Air Traffic Control (ATC) audio posted online. The object was seen over Freeway Airport, about 10 miles north of Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
The C-32 is a specially configured version of the Boeing 757-200 commercial intercontinental airliner for VIP travel.
The C-32 aircraft sported the callsign SAM47, meaning it was not carrying President Donald Trump or Vice President JD Vance. However, it was likely a backup aircraft supporting Trump’s travel.
Thus, the delay in the landing of the aircraft sparked security concerns.
“You can expect some delay; I have a scramble in progress,” an ATC operator told the pilots of SAM47, as could heard in the the audio posted by a user named TEEJ on the metabunk.com website. The audio has since been posted to the social media site X.
The ATC operator could be heard explaining to the C-32A pilot: “Just be advised that we have an active scramble about 10 miles north of Andrews and just waiting on the jet to depart there … active intercept, so that is the reason for the delay vector.”
The conversation between the ATC operator and the aircraft scrambled for interception revealed the potential drone or the “target of interest” (TOI) was allegedly flying at 5,000-6,000 feet.
The drone could not be intercepted. After a slight delay, the C-32A finally landed safely, the MH-65 returned to its base at Reagan International Airport without intercepting the target, and the F-16s returned to their station at Andrews Air Force Base (AFB).
Although harmless, the incident comes amid an increase in drone sightings over the country, which has triggered massive security concerns among officials and residents alike.
In the latest interaction, Peter Doocy from Fox News asked Donald Trump if there was anything to be worried about concerning the recurrent drone sightings.
The newly-elected President replied, “I would like to find out what it is and tell the people. In fact, I’d like to do that.” He also referred to the time when a drone was spotted over his golf club in New Jersey. “I can’t imagine it’s an enemy, or there would have been, you know, people would have gotten blown up, all of them. Maybe they were testing things. I don’t know why. They wouldn’t have said what it was. They had a lot of them flying over Bedminster, which is interesting,” he added.
Currently, there is no information on whether the latest drone incident was an isolated one or if it was connected to the other mysterious drone sightings in recent times that have unnerved the Pentagon, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), as well as the U.S. Air Force (USAF).
The U.S. authorities have not officially acknowledged the incident at the time of writing this report. EurAsian Times awaits a formal confirmation and further updates.
Mysterious Drone Sightings
In December 2023, a mysterious fleet of drones entered restricted U.S. airspace and swarmed Langley Air Force Base for about 17 days. This base, home to the F-22 Raptors, is crucial to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and the United States Northern Command (NORTHCOM).
As previously reported by EurAsian Times, U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly visited the base himself after a base officer informed him that the drones would arrive daily between 45 and 60 minutes after nightfall. The first drone Kelly spotted was around 20 feet long, hovering between 3,000 and 4,000 feet, and traveling about 100 miles per hour.
As the Pentagon and the U.S. military were still investigating the Langley incursions and grappling with the problem, several more drones began to emerge above U.S. military sites and in the airspace of its close allies, alarming the Pentagon.
For instance, a dozen or more drones flew over the Chesapeake Bay, toward Norfolk, Virginia, and near Naval Station Norfolk, the biggest naval port in the world and the home to the US Navy’s SEAL Team Six.
California, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia have all reported seeing the drones in the second half of the last year. On the evening of December 13, at least one airport, Stewart International Airport in New York, temporarily shut down its runways for almost an hour because of alleged drone activity.
The drones have also reached as far as U.S. facilities in the United Kingdom. In November 2024, the United States Air Force in Europe (USAFE) disclosed that several small, unidentified drones were spotted close to three of its airbases in the United Kingdom: RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk, eastern England. The incidents took place between November 20 and 22.
In December 2024, a crucial U.S. Air Force (USAF) facility—Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio—was forced to close its airspace after some unidentified drones were spotted over it on the intervening night of December 13 and 14. At the time, a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) was posted on a federal website, prompting the closure of the airspace for about four hours.
While the concerns regarding these sightings continue to mount, the U.S. military is not allowed to conduct Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations over the continental U.S., which could be used to identify the origins of the drone.
Additionally, the US military is not authorized by federal law to shoot down drones near US military facilities unless they present an immediate threat. In most cases, a threat is not established, and these drones just disappear.
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