U.S. Marine Corps officials observed six drones in the restricted airspace over Camp Pendleton in California, about 40 miles north of San Diego, from Dec. 9 to Dec. 15, the base’s spokesman confirmed.
The unmanned aerial systems, or drones, posed “no threat to installation operations and no impact to air and ground operations,” Capt. James Sartain told The Epoch Times in an email on Wednesday.
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton—a U.S. Department of Defense training base that supports the Marine Corps, Army, Navy, and national, state, and local agencies—did not release any details about the drones.
“Force protection considerations restrict our ability to provide further information to ensure the operational security of the installation and the safety and welfare of the base population and the surrounding areas,” Sartain said.
Camp Pendleton has restricted airspace zones that are activated during military training exercises.
Drone activity in California, New Jersey, and a number of other states has recently stirred public interest.
On Dec. 9, federal agents arrested a Chinese national suspected of flying a drone over Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. The suspect allegedly operated the drone from a nearby park on Nov. 30, taking photos of SpaceX launch pads and other parts of the base.
The suspect, Yinpiao Zhou, 39, who is a Chinese citizen living in Brentwood, California, was arrested by federal officials before he boarded a flight bound for China last week.
Federal agents alleged that Zhou flew the drone over the base for about an hour, taking photos of sensitive areas. Authorities also allege his cell phone contained messages and search histories related to the Space Force base.
National security officials, however, continue to state that the drones don’t pose a threat to the public.
“Having closely examined the technical data and tips from concerned citizens, we assess that the sightings to date include a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones, and law enforcement drones, as well as manned fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and stars mistakenly reported as drones,” the Pentagon, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the Federal Aviation Administration said on Dec. 16 in a joint statement on X.
Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told reporters on Tuesday that he had received intelligence from the administrator of NASA, Bill Nelson, that drones had been “reported over military sites, military bases,” but did not provide further details.
From The Epoch Times