FOIA files shed new light on WPAFB drone incursions

Security Forces reported aircraft “bigger than an F-16”

It’s been almost two years since a series of mysterious drone incursions forced the temporary closure of airspace at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB), gaining national media attention and raising serious questions about the security of this critical U.S. Air Force facility.

The U.S. Air Force has never fully explained the incidents, which involved a series of incursions by multiple Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) that occurred at WPAFB between December 11 and December 16, 2024. Recently released files, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, shed new light on the Air Force’s investigation of the incursions and raise new questions about these unprecedented incidents. 

Publicly, the Air Force has downplayed the severity of the incursions, which led to the shutdown of airspace around WPAFB for four hours on Friday, Dec. 13, 2024.

The newly released files offer a different narrative, showing instead an escalating series of serious UAS incursions, which took place over several days and involved approximately 10-20 different unmanned aircraft, ranging from small quadcopters flying in formations to large, 4’ X 6’ quadcopters, and a mysterious fixed-wing aircraft described as larger than an F-16 fighter jet.

“Hey, what is that?”

According to records released through the FOIA request, WPAFB security forces first became aware of the drone incursions at approximately 11:30 p.m. on Dec. 11, 2024, when two officers on patrol near the base’s Fire Training site on Riverview Drive reported seeing a UAS with red and white lights flying above the tree line, at an altitude of approximately 150 feet.

“As my lead was driving north-east on Riverview Road adjacent to the Fire Training site, he stated, ‘Hey, what is that,’ pointing up above us,” one officer wrote in a statement on the incident. “It looked to be a four to six-propeller drone, approximately 4x6 feet, (with) a red and two white lights, elevating 150 feet in the air.”

The officers, whose identities were redacted in the files, reported that the UAS soon flew away, departing towards the southwest at a much higher altitude.

Another officer who was dispatched to assist also reported seeing the same drone, or a similar UAS, near the base’s K-9 kennels, which they described as approximately 12 inches in size with white, red and green lights.

Sweeps were conducted, but no additional drones were spotted that night, and security forces terminated their response to the UAS sightings at approximately 12:58 a.m.

No UAS were sighted the next day, but at approximately 10:08 p.m. on December 13, two patrolling officers reported seeing a small, black quadcopter drone with flashing red and green lights, flying at rapid speed towards Fire Station #2.

After pursuing the drone and sweeping the area for signs of a possible operator, the officers also reported seeing four quadcopter drones with red and green lights, flying in a diamond formation near a munitions site.

“I used my car’s spotlight system and placed the light on the quadcopters,” one of the officers reported. “When I illuminated the drones, they then lowered in altitude, gained altitude and flew away at a rapid speed.”

The drone sightings eventually led to the closing of WPAFB airspace for approximately four hours on Friday, December 13. No additional drone sightings were reported over the next two days, but the UAS would soon return for the most intense night of incursions on December 16.

“Lights coming down from the sky”

The drone incidents returned on December 16, starting with the sighting of several UAS by a local resident who happened to be out walking with his dog near WPAFB, in the area around Dairy Queen on Airway Road.

The resident, whose identity was also redacted in the files, called at approximately 9:38 p.m. to report seeing two white lights hovering over the intersection of Airway Road and Colonel Glenn Highway near WPAFB. The resident also met with security forces, according to the files, and provided a video of the UAS taken with his phone.

At approximately 10 p.m., a member of WPAFB security forces reported seeing three to five white lights moving as a group around the National Museum of the Air Force, and two UAS flying at approximately 1,000 to 2,000 feet were also sighted by another security officer at approximately 10:30 p.m.

“They were flying in formation with one another, not changing distance between the two, and did not follow a normal flight pattern,” the officer said in a statement.

 Over the next hour, UAS sightings were also reported near the base’s flightline, a gymnasium in Area B, and Bass Lake. Drones were also spotted hovering above State Route 235 and WPAFB Gate 26A.

“The drone above 26A was hovering pretty high, thousands of feet above,” one security officer reported. “It had white and red blinking lights.”

The most disturbing incursion occurred near the base’s flightline at approximately 11:40 p.m., and was witnessed by multiple members of WPAFB security forces.

“While driving out towards Bass Lake on Skeel Avenue, I saw four bright amber lights coming down from the sky, which looked like a plane attempting to land from the southwest,” one security forces member reported. “Once the object made it approximately 500 feet from the runway, it started to lift back into the sky and flew directly over me.”

“The object had engines on the side and wings,” the officer reported. “The object was a little bigger than an F-16, and was grey in color. I lost sight of the aircraft once it got high in the clouds, but it was heading in the direction of Huber Heights.”

The aircraft was also seen by another member of the security forces.

“Around 2340, I noticed a grey in color aircraft with four amber-colored navigational lights, one on each wing and two on the nose, was flying low about 500 feet from the ground,” the officer said in a statement.

Sightings of smaller, red-colored UAS were also reported after the larger aircraft’s departure, at approximately 11:53 p.m.

“At approximately 2353, I saw a red in color possible drone flying north to south off-base,” one officer reported. “I saw my last sighting of five more; possible red in color, heading the same direction spaced out from each other at different heights.”

According to the files, patrols lost sight of all the UAS by 12:30 p.m., and the base’s incident response was officially terminated at 1 a.m. on December 17.

During the incidents, security forces conducted multiple sweeps of the base grounds in search of potential operators for the UAS that were sighted. The files also show that during the incidents, at approximately 11:42, security forces were alerted to the presence of a dark-colored SUV parked on Sandhill Road near Area A, which had left the area when officers attempted to make contact.

“Myself and Police-1 were dispatched to make contact with the vehicle,” a security forces officer reported in a statement. “Once we got to where the car was, it was already gone.”

The vehicle was also mentioned in a separate incident report.

“The vehicle appeared to be occupied by one individual, and potentially watching the activity of the unknown flying objects,” the report said, noting that a member of security forces “received a potential ID from the individual from BDOC by utilizing L.E.A.D.S., and instructed that he would attempt to contact with the individual at his home of record.”

No additional details about the vehicle were given, and there is no further mention of the vehicle, its occupant or any potential follow-up investigation in the files that were released.

Official Explanations

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations prohibit flying drones or other UAS in the airspace around any airport without prior permission, and airspace around U.S. military bases is generally classified as a no-fly zone for civilian drone pilots.

The drone incursions reported at WPAFB occurred in December of 2024, and Air Force officials have still never fully explained the outcome of investigations into the incidents, or who might have possibly been piloting the UAS involved.

“Small unmanned aerial systems were spotted in the vicinity of and over Wright-Patterson AFB’s Area A and Area B during the late evening and early morning of Dec. 16 and Dec. 17th.,” a statement released by WPAFB officials on December 17, 2024 said. “Installation leaders have determined that none of the incursions impacted base residents, facilities or assets. The Wright-Patterson AFB airspace was not affected by the incursions.” 

Similar drone sightings were also reported throughout the New York and New Jersey area in November of 2024, leading the White House to issue a statement on the New Jersey drone sightings on January 28, 2025.

“The drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said. “Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational, and private individuals who enjoy flying drones. In time, it got worse due to curiosity.”

Additional FOIA requests have been submitted, seeking records of any follow-up investigations regarding the dark-colored SUV that was seen during the WPAFB drone incursions, and records of any other drone incursions that might have occurred at the base since the December 2024 incidents.

Drone experts at Sinclair Community College’s National UAS Training Center declined to comment on the UAS incidents at WPAFB.

“At this time, our team at Sinclair is unable to participate in an interview, or review the materials for your story,” an email response from Chief Public Information Officer Scott Marshall said. 

Officials at WPAFB also declined to answer interview questions for this story.

“We understand that you have already reviewed information released through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process,” a statement from the base’s media relations office said. “We do not have any additional information or commentary to provide beyond what was included in that official release…To safeguard operational security, we do not discuss specific force protection measures, detection capabilities, or response protocols.”