Hangar 18 — The December 2024 Drone Incursions
Hangar 18 — The December 2024 Drone Incursions
[edit | edit source]Overview
[edit | edit source]In December 2024, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base experienced a sustained series of unauthorized aerial incursions that have added a new and contemporary dimension to its UFO-related history. The incidents triggered the first drone-related airfield closure in the base's history and generated multiple FOIA releases documenting anomalous aerial activity that conventional explanations have not fully accounted for.
The Five Events (December 13–19, 2024)
[edit | edit source]| Event | Date/Time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | December 13, ~10:08 PM | Security Forces near Hot Cargo Pads observed drones turning lights off when flying past observers; emergency NOTAMs issued; first drone-related airfield closure in WPAFB history |
| 2 | December 17, 4:41 AM | Multiple radar targets detected by Wright-Patterson tower; no visual confirmation |
| 3 | December 17, 4:58 AM | ZID Center (Indianapolis ARTCC) detects 7–17 targets simultaneously within 40 miles; Security Forces confirm visual contact; classified as "swarm" in FAA SKYWATCH |
| 4 | December 17, 6:08 PM | Aircraft on approach reports silver drone at approximately 3,200 feet, 5 nautical miles SE of base |
| 5 | December 19, 6:45 PM | Commercial aircraft at 16,000 feet reports black cube-shaped object passing 500 feet beneath them near Appleton VOR, 70–80 miles ENE of WPAFB |
The Black Cube: Event Five
[edit | edit source]The most anomalous element of the December 2024 incidents is the December 19 pilot report of a black cube at 15,500 feet — an altitude incompatible with any commercially available consumer drone, which is FAA-limited to 400 feet AGL. The description was logged in the FAA's internal SKYWATCH system. When researcher John Greenewald Jr. of the Black Vault compared the SKYWATCH internal records to the FAA's public drone sightings database, he found that the word cube had been removed from the public-facing entry.
The deliberate removal of a single specific descriptor — "cube" — from the public record, while leaving the entry itself intact, is consistent with the pattern of information management that researchers associate with WPAFB's broader history of managing public information about anomalous events at the facility.
FOIA Documentation
[edit | edit source]| Document | FOIA Case Number | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| Air Force incident reports | 2025-01757-F | Sworn witness statements; security video; NOTAM documentation |
| FAA SKYWATCH records | 2025-04622 | All five event summaries; radar data; black cube entry with descriptor removed from public database |
Significance
[edit | edit source]The December 2024 incidents add a contemporary, government-documented dimension to WPAFB's UFO research history. They demonstrate:
- The base continues to be the site of anomalous aerial activity that the military and FAA acknowledge but cannot explain
- Information management continues — the removal of "cube" from public FAA records mirrors historical patterns of selective disclosure
- The most sensitive base in the American UFO research tradition remains the center of unexplained aerial events in the modern era
Whether the December 2024 incidents are related to the decades-long allegations about Hangar 18's contents — or represent a wholly separate category of phenomena — has not been established.
