American air bases have spotted drones flying above.

American air bases in the US and UK have reported dozens of mysterious drones hovering over sensitive sites, in a bizarre and concerning trend under investigation by the Pentagon.

The drones vary in size, and are able to evade restrictions on flights above military bases.

Sites in New Jersey, California and the UK have all been visited by drones in recent weeks. Similar incidents happened over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia last year.

The sightings have prompted a raft of official investigations and theories from security officials, law enforcement and the public.

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Russia

One obvious threat is Russia, which has ramped up its drone development over the course of the war in Ukraine and flown fighter jets close to British and American airspace to test the military’s response.

The bases targeted in the UK include RAF Lakenheath, which The Telegraph previously revealed had been earmarked to host American nuclear weapons.

Joseph Orlando, the chief of New Jersey police, warned residents on Dec 4 that the drones flying over Picatinny Arsenal were “nefarious in nature” and were occurring “nightly” after sunset.

X/@AndyKimNJ

Reports in the UK have suggested the drones are “high capability” and may have been fitted with sophisticated reconnaissance gear, fuelling suspicion that a state actor was responsible. One source told The Times that the flights could be a sign of a “sinister” plot.

“It did sound like a passenger jet but not as loud,” said Keith, a witness in New Jersey.

“It looked like the size of an SUV, but could’ve been even larger.”

China

Another possible culprit is China, where the drone company DJI is based.

DJI has a 70 per cent global market share in drones, and its products have been used to surveil Muslim Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang province, according to the US government.

On Monday, the FBI arrested a Chinese national, Yinpiao Zhou, who is accused of flying a DJI drone over the Vandenberg Space Force Base on the same day the NRO, the US spy satellite agency, was launching a “sensitive payload”.

A criminal complaint filed by federal police said Mr Zhou had a visa to live in the US, but was boarding a flight back to China from San Francisco when he was apprehended.

The drone incidents come less than two years after the Chinese “spy balloon” furore, when a high-altitude craft made its way across the US before being shot down by the military.

Iran

Iran is the first country to be officially accused of launching drones in New Jersey, by the Republican state senator Jeff Van Drew.

Citing “sources”, he claimed this week that they originated from an Iranian “mothership” off the coast of the US.

“I’m going to tell you the real deal. Iran launched a mothership that contains these drones,” he said, calling for them to be “shot down” by the military.

@shorepointsnj via Spectee

But it was his theory that was later shot down, by a Pentagon spokeswoman who said there was “no Iranian ship off the coast of the United States” and “no so-called mothership launching drones towards the United States”.

The US military has faced drone threats from Iran before, when Tehran-backed groups launched explosive “suicide drones” at bases in Iraq and Syria, in response to America’s support for Israel after the Oct 7 attack.

Iran has achieved significant success with the Shahed combat drone, which has been supplied to Russia during the war in Ukraine.

Hobbyists

Another less exciting theory is that the drones are piloted by hobbyists who fly them for fun.

One theory about the drone incursions in the UK is that they are flown by “Gatwick truthers”, who are protesting against government restrictions on drone flight after another mystery incident over Gatwick airport in December 2018.

Although the drones are able to evade virtual perimeter fences around air bases and height restrictions imposed by manufacturers, an official source told The Telegraph the measures are relatively easy to overcome.

One police chief in New Jersey told the New York Post that while the first drones over Picatinny Arsenal base may have been a military surveillance drill, more recent flights reported in the news may be the work of hobbyists.

“Once it exploded online this became a copycat situation,” the chief said.

However, the authorities overseeing several of the incidents have suggested the drones over US bases are unlikely to be the work of amateurs because of the sophisticated nature of their equipment.

Witnesses in New Jersey said they saw small quadcopters and octocopters, which cannot be easily bought off the shelf.

Aliens

Naturally, a story about mysterious craft in the sky has prompted theories that the drones are in fact alien spaceships.

“I have guys who legitimately think it’s aliens,” one police chief told The Post.

@DianeAtkins via Spectee

The US government has run a UFO-monitoring programme, the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, since July 2022 and regularly publishes images of flying saucers and other ships that have been reported by military officials and the public.

It has not yet identified a confirmed alien spacecraft, but does admit when images cannot be properly sourced.

The alien theory has not received any pickup in the official sphere, and has been restricted to Facebook groups and other online forums.

One longtime alien enthusiast on Reddit is almost convinced.

“What aren’t they telling us?” they posted. “Maybe this is the real deal.”

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