Police helicopter forced to dive after unidentified objects at RAF base

Newly launched police logs and video footage contradict official accounts of a near-collision between a British police helicopter and unidentified aerial objects over a US air base final 12 months, an encounter that authorities had beforehand dismissed as a routine fighter jet sighting.

This is evident from documents from the Daily Mail obtained by the UK’s Freedom of Data Act, the November 22, 2024 flight pressured a Nationwide Police Air Service (NPAS) EC135 helicopter to take evasive emergency motion after experiences that two fast-moving craft had been “focusing on” and pursuing the plane over RAF Lakenheath, a significant US navy set up in Suffolk.

The pilots described a steep dive to keep away from a collision because the objects adjusted their velocity, about 165 knots (190 mph), for a number of minutes earlier than disappearing from view.

Nick Pope, who beforehand investigated UFOs for the British Ministry of Protection, informed Fox Information Digital that the episode reveals how unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAP, have gone from a fringe curiosity to a reputable protection and aviation problem.

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The US authorities has been pressured to research experiences of UFOs to establish any considerations concerning threats to nationwide safety. (iStock)

“This disturbing incident completely illustrates why the UAP problem has gone from fringe to mainstream,” Pope stated. “No matter folks could imagine, it is a critical flight security problem that requires pressing consideration and motion.”

Pope emphasised that merely labeling such encounters with “drones” might obscure one thing way more complicated.

“‘Drone’ has turn out to be a useful shorthand for something unexplained that individuals see within the sky,” he stated. “So we actually do not know what we’re coping with right here.”

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A UFO is seen within the sky. (Courtesy of Netflix)

He added that the shortage of knowledge sharing between companies and the tendency to downplay observations might additional compound the hazard.

“I hope it does not take a tragedy for extra to be carried out,” Pope stated. “There may be continual under-reporting of these kind of incidents, so the true scale of the issue is probably going way more critical.”

Logs quoted by the Day by day Mail say the NPAS crew referred to as the encounter an “unprovoked pursuit” shortly after 10pm whereas patrolling close to the bottom.

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“They needed to carry out an emergency dive and described being chased in the course of the dive by two drones that matched their velocity… after which chased them outdoors the realm for a number of minutes,” a police enter stated.

One other notes that the pilots “felt that drones had attacked them and chased them away at a velocity of about 140 knots [161 mph].”

Extra police experiences between November 20 and 22 recorded round 20 drone sightings at RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell. Logs described “10-15 drones… probably in base airspace” and the plane talked about had been briefly grounded after crossing flight paths.

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One witness utilizing evening imaginative and prescient goggles reported “5 to 6 drones” close to the A1065 motorway, whereas one other described “giant stationary issues – tic-tacs – they aren’t birds.”

A British navy supply who seen the helicopter’s full 30-minute infrared video informed the Day by day Mail that the footage reveals “drones mirroring the helicopter’s actions” performing a “corkscrew” maneuver inconceivable for an F-15.

“Within the 30-minute video with pilot audio, nobody mentions F-15s,” the supply stated. “All they speak about is the drones… they’re mainly being pressured out of the realm.”

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In accordance with the corporate’s web site, Enigma has acquired greater than 9,000 witness sightings of mysterious objects inside 10 miles of america coast as of August 2025. (iStock)

Regardless of the various sightings, the British Airprox Board, which investigates close to misses, concluded in its ultimate report that the crew had misinterpret the lights of a US Air Pressure F-15 working close by. Radar knowledge confirmed the helicopter and aircraft got here inside 1,700 ft, and the board reported no different returns.

Retired senior detective Mike Morgan informed the Day by day Mail he was pissed off by the official silence.

“There are an entire sequence of query marks about what occurred in November 2024,” he stated. “I’ve been repeatedly confronted with makes an attempt by authorities to not reply even probably the most primary questions… What’s so secret about this investigation?”

Protection sector meteorologist Stuart Onyeche stated he believes each the F-15 and police helicopter responded to unmanned methods within the space.

“I are inclined to belief the preliminary particulars and evaluation of the skilled helicopter pilots,” Onyeche informed the Day by day Mail. “There is not any disputing that there was additionally an F-15 within the space… however the unanswered query is what that fighter was purported to be doing or in search of.”

The Day by day Mail notes that the Lakenheath case got here amid weeks of comparable experiences of drone raids close to US navy bases in New Jersey, the Northeast and past.

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The paper additionally cites a joint FBI/DoD/NASA report warning that detection and jamming methods have “didn’t cease” superior drones, together with a big swarm over Langley Air Pressure Base in Virginia in December 2023, which was saved quiet till uncovered by The war zone in March 2024.

Pope stated recurring incidents just like the Lakenheath encounter, mixed with restricted transparency from officers, level to a rising divide in how governments take care of unidentified air actions and that with out higher reporting and coordination, the danger to air security will solely proceed to extend.

Stepheny Worth covers crime together with lacking individuals, murders and migrant crime. Ship story tricks to stepheny.value@fox.com.