A British former UFO hunter has said he does not “rule out” recent drone incursions over RAF bases in England being connected to Russia and China and nuclear weapons.
Unidentified drones were spotted in November over three airbases in the east of England that are used by the US air force (USAF).
“Small unmanned aerial systems” were seen between 20 and 22 November over RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk and RAF Feltwell in Norfolk. The USAF, which occupies the bases, could not confirm if the drones were hostile.
According to a January US Department of Defense (DoD) notice, plans to deploy American nuclear weapons to RAF Lakenheath have progressed. The document states the work was in preparation for the base’s “upcoming nuclear mission”.
“I don’t rule out the activity being connected with nuclear weapons,” said Nick Pope, a former Ministry of Defence official who headed the UFO desk in Whitehall from 1991 to 1994.
“Adversaries (probably Russia or China) might use drones to gather data on this, in parallel with using other intelligence-gathering strategies. But they’d be unlikely to risk an intelligence officer (either declared, let alone a highly prized illegal) on something like this.”
Pope thinks that if foreign adversaries were responsible, they might use third parties, perhaps by supplying local drone hobbyists with some equipment.
“Perhaps convincing them they’d be working for an independent news agency. Anti-nuclear groups or individual activists might also be potential culprits in this scenario.”
November’s incursions wouldn’t be the first time unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP, the military’s preferred acronym for unidentified flying objects or UFOs) have poked around RAF airbases housing nuclear weapons.
On Boxing Day 1980, United States airmen spotted strange objects flying over Rendlesham forest on the doorstep of RAF Bentwaters in Suffolk, a former airbase used by the US air force.
Charles Halt, the on-base commander at the time, said he saw crafts shooting down beams of light to the ground and heard over his radio that “the beams went down into the weapons storage area”.
Pope said that, unlike other UFO tales, eyewitness reports from Rendlesham were backed up by hard evidence. “It’s the perfect storm of a UFO case. It’s multiple witnesses, including the military. It’s sightings over three consecutive nights.
Hellbound and Down 