Drones that hovered around the U.S. coast for hours off the California coast remain unknown for more than a year and a half after delivery, the Navy chief said.
Adm. Navy Operations Chief Michael Gilday spoke on Monday about the July 2019 flights during a Defense Writers Group event in Washington. Gilday said the incident – and other similar observations – are still being judged.
Asked if the Navy had identified the drones flying near U.S. warships near the Channel Islands outside Southern California, Gilday said, “No, we did not.”
‘I’m aware of the sighting, and as reported, there have been other sightings by pilots in the air and by other ships, not only from the United States but also from other nations – and of course other elements in the US joint power, ”Gilday said.
“The findings have been collected and are still being analyzed,” he said.
The admiral said there was “an established process throughout the community to collect the data and bring it to a separate repository for analysis.”
Gilday appears to have referred to a pending report requested by the Senate Intelligence Committee, which asked the Director of National Intelligence, in consultation with the Department of Defense, to report by June 25 on unexplained sightings of advanced aircraft and drones used by the military. The report is supposed to investigate whether foreign adversaries are behind the unknown plane.
Asked if the plane was “extraterrestrial”, Gilday said he “did not indicate it at all.”
The flights were first reported by The Drive website, based on shipping logs and emails released under a freedom of information request. NBC News obtained the same documents.
About six drones flew around the warships in poor conditions for several days at a time, with the drones flashing and the safety measures on board.
The drones could stay afloat for 90 minutes or longer, surpassing the capability of commercially available drones.
According to ship books, the drones could also fly at the same speed as a destroyer traveling at 16 knots in low visibility conditions, defined as less than 1 nautical mile of visibility.
The episode raised the possibility of serious security breach.
The drone flights took place near San Clemente Island, home to sensitive military facilities, including a Navy SEAL training area, a live shore-to-shore shooting range and an airfield.
The mysterious drone flights immediately investigated Navy investigators and intelligence officers and the FBI, including a special agent at the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the FBI field office in Los Angeles and the director of the Maritime Intelligence Operations Center within the 3rd Navy . Navy, according to email obtained by NBC News.
The email made it clear that the problem is receiving high-level attention, right down to the office of the Chief of Naval Operations.