'Sinister' craft seen over RAF bases as expert warns 'we're not getting full story'

A leading analyst has described the fresh surge in drone activity across NATO’s nuclear airbases in the UK as “particularly sinister.”

Throughout the past 12 months, US military bases have been beset by numerous incursions of unexplained unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). The saga started with drone-like entities hovering above Langley Air Force Base in Virginia during Christmas 2023, culminating in a flurry of sightings at multiple bases, including those in Britain throughout this month.

Among the UFO community, theories of an alien invasion have been rampant, with a focus on these unidentified crafts’ tendency to cluster around airbases housing nuclear weapons. But, according to Professor David Dunn from the University of Birmingham, the true explanation for this phenomenon could be more simple – and much more alarming.

Professor Dunn warns that the recent spate of UAP encounters could be attributed to the clandestine actions of a hostile state intending to expose security failings at i NATO bases.

Speaking to science filmmaker Simon Holland about the nocturnal flights over NATO bases, he explained: “It’s disruptive … it’s demonstrating and signalling vulnerability and capability and it’s also about preparation and signalling that preparation.”

In particular, the professor says, the drones are not only hovering over aircraft on the ground at these bases, they’ve also being seen lurking near servicemen’s married quarters.

He went on: “This is not just one or two drones like in Gatwick airport a few years ago. This is a coordinated incursion by a whole variety of different drones that are clearly part of a plan by a sophisticated actor.

“As well as being disruptive, it’s sending a signal saying ‘We have the capacity to actually put assets over your most sensitive air bases where you operate your most sophisticated and strategically important aircraft for the defence of Europe through NATO, and we have the capacity to fly over and and both disrupt your air operations to actually identify those assets.”

Professor Dunn highlighted that besides the drones’ capability to capture detailed images of the NATO aircraft, they could potentially be utilised as offensive weapons to cripple them. He noted that the drones are “operating over B52 bases, over F35 and F-15 bases and it’s actually showing a capacity to hit those things on the ground”.

Professor Dunn has expressed concern over the “particularly sinister” drone sightings above RAF residences, in addition to observations near RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, RAF Feltwell in Norfolk, and RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire.

He speculates that the increased drone activity over RAF airstrips and US bases in Britain might be linked to Ukraine using British Storm Shadow missiles against Russia.

Highlighting the mystery behind the incidents, Professor Dunn pointed out: “The interesting thing with these incursions is that no one claimed responsibility. It’s not about Palestine, or the environment, it’s another sort of actor who actually knows that their actions themselves will be read as the message without having to spell it out in the media.”

Both the Pentagon and the Ministry of Defence maintain there is no identified threat from these mysterious objects. However, leading UFO analyst Nick Pope offered an intriguing explanation, suggesting the truth may be withheld due to confidentiality concerns: “We’re almost certainly not getting the full story from the authorities, because some of what’s going on may be classified.”

Nick further delved into the reasoning behind such secrecy, potentially involving sophisticated defence or surveillance projects: “This would arise if any of this activity is attributable to our own black project technology, but could also apply to activity related to drones operated by adversaries like Russia or China.

“That’s because UK and US authorities don’t want to tip adversaries off about the effectiveness of things like site surveillance or drone countermeasures. So if a drone is brought down with an EMP weapon, the authorities might keep this secret, to keep the operators guessing.”

He also holds a more sceptical view on the drone incursions being attributed to Russian provocation, saying: “All these sightings could legitimately be categorised as UAP until the point that any of them are identified. That being said, the most likely possibility is that we’re dealing with drones. Perhaps some are operated by plane-spotters, but as most of these people abide by CAA rules on drone operation, it’s more likely to be the work of irresponsible hobbyists.”

Amid ongoing speculations around recent unidentified aerial phenomena, it’s been pointed out that there is no solid evidence to suggest adversary operations.

The coincidental timing of the sightings with Ukraine deploying UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles against the Kursk region in Russia does not confirm a connection. He went on: “While adversary activity can’t be ruled out – not least because the incursions came to light at around the same time that Ukraine launched UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles to strike the Kursk region in Russia – there’s currently no evidence of this.”

Adding another dimension to the debate, Nick proposed that psychological phenomena cannot be discounted, where heightened sensitivity may lead to benign objects being misinterpreted as threats: “Another factor that can’t be ruled out, according to Nick, is ‘mass hysteria’.”

He points out that after initial valid reports, the public might falsely perceive “Chinese lanterns, aircraft lights, or even bright stars and planets” as enemy or extraterrestrial activities.