Unidentified Objects Swarmed Langley Air Force Base in December 2023 — Enigma's Data and Analysis

In December 2023, a series of unidentified aerial objects swarmed the area surrounding Langley Air Force Base in Virginia. Langley Air Force Base is critical to US defense, protecting the nation’s capital, and supporting the Army (Fort Eustis), NORAD Northcom, and nearby Navy facilities. For 17 days these objects breached restricted airspace, and Virginia officers chased them by patrol car and on foot. But the objects were impossible to track, vanishing each night despite all of the local resources deployed to catch them. Most alarmingly, Langley's F-22s were grounded, and NASA’s WB-57F research plane was called in to investigate - as reported by TWZ in March. The incidents were the basis of NORAD General Guillot’s 90-day emergency assessment of escalating UAS threats: 

These events highlight a critical national vulnerability and underscore the need for innovative solutions. As officials scrambled for answers, Enigma Labs, a platform for reporting and analyzing anomalous aerial activity, received a wave of reports from local users on the ground, confirming their concern about the strange activity unfolding in Virginia’s skies. We also sent out push notifications to users in the area prompting them to contribute what they saw. Your contributions were invaluable in helping piece together information on this mystery.

Today, these objects remain unidentified by both us and official authorities. You can read the latest in WSJ's Oct 12th coverage. Our analysis and insights are published below for everyone to read.

Collaborating with People on the Ground for Crowdsourced Reporting

Enigma has a network of over 150,000 iOS app users that is rapidly growing. Users receive Skywatch alerts and report unusual activity in the skies. Here is a summary of our activity in VA since December 2023:

• Incident: Unidentified objects swarmed Virginia throughout December 2023
• Intel: Enigma received 23 aerial object reports in December <150 mile radius, confirming aerial activity. Browse here
• Action: Enigma immediately sent a push notification to 700 local VA app users, asking them to report any additional sighting details
• Impact: Enigma has been assessing whether these unidentified aerial actors are a persistent threat in VA. We have grown coverage 250% in the area since December 2023.

Insights From Aerial Reports Submitted to the Enigma Network

Flight Behavior

• 52% report the object as moving in a “straight and steady” path with 26% reporting the object was “hovering”
• 44% described the object as flying “as high as a plane” 
• 22% of reports described the shape of the object as a “triangle” used interchangeably with the description of “boomerang”

Witnesses

• 39% had more than one witness of the aerial activity

Point of Origin

• Varied by date and time; two objects seen flying from the north and heading ESE

Timing

• A concentration of objects was reported around Dec 6-7, with a peak on Dec 14 with 5 reports
• 48% of sightings were in the late evening, peaking between 9 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Subsequent Activity

In 2024 we’ve received a steady stream of reports, with an additional 22 accounts of unusual activity within a 50-mile radius of Langley that stood out to us. A few highlighted excerpts from user accounts are shown below:

The Role of Enigma

As our skies become busier, Enigma Labs is pioneering a new approach to empowering the community to observe and report unusual aerial activity. The Langley AFB case study underscores the importance of collective vigilance and information sharing. Everyday observers play a critical role in Enigma’s growing alert network and detection capabilities. We firmly believe in a future that is rooted in collaboration. Join the movement today and be part of solving these mysteries in real time and helping to keep our skies safer — download the app to contribute to the growing community of 150k+ skywatchers.