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Modern Mysteries

US Navy destroyers were harassed by drone swarms

By T.K. Randall
December 18, 2021 · Comment icon 54 comments

Who or what was operating the mystery drones and for what purpose ? Image Credit: Dkroetsch
Newly declassified documents detail how multiple ships were harassed for weeks by mysterious drones.
It seems that drones are everywhere these days, however in the wrong hands they have the potential to be quite dangerous and can even pose a threat to a country's national security.

Newly released documents under the Freedom of Information Act contain a detailed account of how multiple US Navy destroyers were continuously hounded by a whole swarm of unidentified drones during a series of incidents that took place over the course of several weeks in summer 2019.

At least three ships reported multiple drones harassing them, with the mysterious aerial vehicles adjusting their speed and position whenever a ship would change course to avoid them.

Efforts to shoot down the drones also proved problematic because the weapons aboard the vessels were not designed to hit small, fast-moving targets.
Special teams known as "Ship Nautical Or Otherwise Photographic Interpretation and Exploitation" (or SNOOPIE) were deployed to gather information about the drones.

While they likely captured numerous photographs, these have not been made available to the public thus far.

The drones continued to hound the vessels for such an extensive period of time that they were still being sighted after the US Navy had launched an official investigation into the phenomenon.

As for where the drones had come from and who was operating them, however, nobody seems to know.

Source: The Drive | Comments (54)




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Recent comments on this story
Comment icon #45 Posted by Manwon Lender 3 years ago
I know what you mean but that was a security failure on the part of the Navy, that boat should never have gotten that close something or someone made a mistake. Trust me there are things I can openly say and there subjects I must talk around key points for reasons I can’t  discuss, small aerial drones posse no threat to US Navy Ships, it’s your choice my friend believe me or not. Merry Xmas my friend! 
Comment icon #46 Posted by Dejarma 3 years ago
what if one of these small drones had crashed onto a boat with a chemical weapon attached?
Comment icon #47 Posted by Manwon Lender 3 years ago
Well honestly if it’s a small drone it’s also going to be a small Chemical Weapon and US Military Personal are trained in all facets of Chemical Warfare and they have the equipment to protect themselves. But, believe me or not unless there is a completely failure of Operational Security and on board equipment that will never happen! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Comment icon #48 Posted by jmccr8 3 years ago
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2021/09/07/americas-new-stealth-drone-appears-to-be-operational-near-china/?sh=594fe2011621 An aircraft that appears to be the U.S. Air Force’s secret RQ-180 stealth spy drone has been photographed flying over the Philippines. The photo appears to back up reporting that the jet-powered, batwing RQ-180—in essence a weaponless, pilotless stealth bomber—is flying from Guam for operations around China.   Michael Fugnit, a self-described “skywatcher,” was in Sorogon, in Luzon south of Manila, when he saw—but didn’t hear—an aircraft high overhe... [More]
Comment icon #49 Posted by Golden Duck 3 years ago
And it can be interfered with.
Comment icon #50 Posted by ChrLzs 3 years ago
..and as I mentioned above, they could also be autonomous or use laser coms for control.. plus if they were part of a training exercise (and they mostly were) the in-training wep officers would be told which instruments they are to use / not use.  I am of the very strong opinion that the drones were 'friendly' and most likely originated from the experimental drone facility on Sam Clemente Island.
Comment icon #51 Posted by Manwon Lender 3 years ago
Comment icon #52 Posted by ChrLzs 3 years ago
And just so you folks know this isn't just an ill-informed opinion - there are many references online (although you'll have to dig a bit).  Some of the references date back to the 1970's and earlier... http://www.scisland.org/aboutsci/history/1970s.html That was over 50 years ago!!!  So imagine how far drone-tech has progressed since then...
Comment icon #53 Posted by ChrLzs 3 years ago
And as a cute coincidence.. here's some wonderful footage from a (non-military) drone near San Clemente Island, being used for much nicer purposes...  don't you just love the dolphin companion?!?!   Look at the quality of both the imagery, and also the tracking.  Amazing.  Compare that to the crappy images from the Navy's ATFLIR footage... (yeah I know it's oranges versus mandarins, but even so.........  )
Comment icon #54 Posted by ChrLzs 3 years ago
And now for something completely different to whales......  Just more evidence - drones, folks.   https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/43880/navy-destroyer-deployed-drake-counter-drone-system-during-2019-mystery-swarm-incident   Of course they were - some of these drones were experimental US developed tech..


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