F/A-18E Super Hornets fly in formation over Naval Air Station Ocean in Virginia Beach on July 12, 2024. (Megan Wollam/U.S. Navy)
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (Tribune News Service) — Military aircraft flying over the Dam Neck and Croatan areas of Virginia Beach is not uncommon, but the aircraft John Knight and his son, Benjamin, saw Thursday after dark was unlike any other they’ve seen.
“It was definitely different,” said Knight, who took videos of what he thinks was a drone the size of a small truck.
The Virginia Beach video adds to a litany of recent reports of strange drone sightings on the East Coast, including in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
Croatan sits between two military installations: Naval Air Station Oceana Dam Neck Annex and State Military Reservation (formerly Camp Pendleton), a Virginia Army National Guard facility. Knight spotted the flying object over the ocean in front of the Dam Neck Annex and watched as it slowly moved over the military reservation and behind the trees towards Owls Creek, he said.
“It flew like a helicopter but made no noise,” Knight said.
NAS Oceana, the East Coast master jet base located in Virginia Beach, is aware of recent reports of drone sightings in the area and is coordinating with federal and state agencies to ensure the safety of its personnel and operations, public affairs officer Katie Hewett wrote in an email Friday.
“Nothing unusual or unscheduled was detected in NAS Oceana’s air space,” Hewett said. “The installation remains prepared to respond to any potential risks, leveraging robust security measures and advanced detection capabilities.”
The base is encouraging members of the community to report any suspicious activity near the base to local law enforcement, Hewett said.
Knight submitted the videos Thursday night to the FBI tip line.
A large number of unidentified drones have been spotted at locations across New Jersey in recent weeks, stoking speculation of what they could be and who’s behind them. On Thursday, there were more reports of the objects flying over Pennsylvania and New York.
The Department of Homeland Security and FBI said Thursday they have no evidence that the reported drone sightings in New Jersey pose a national security or a public safety threat. However, state and local officials are pushing for more transparency.
The FBI has asked residents to share videos, photos and other information they may have about the drones.
Knight, who lives three blocks from the ocean in the Croatan neighborhood, was on his deck when he saw the red flashing lights in the sky.
The Knights can be heard discussing the aircraft in the video.
“That looks like a saucer,” Knight’s son says. “Why is it slanted like that?”
In another video, Knight says, “It’s moving super slow,” and “You can barely hear it.”
This week, several people in Yorktown and at the Virginia Beach Oceanfront reported seeing erratic patterns in the sky at night, sharing videos in Facebook groups.
This isn’t the first time unidentified aircraft have been seen in Virginia’s skies. In October, the Pentagon confirmed news reports of unidentified drones swarming the airspace at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton in December 2023.
According to reports, a fleet of up to a dozen drones swarmed the airspace above Langley and other Hampton locations, such as Gosnold’s Hope Park, Buckroe Beach and Grandview Nature Preserve. The drones also flew south across the Chesapeake Bay toward Norfolk.
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