Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has issued a statement amid reports of drone sightings around Northern Virginia and elsewhere.
The governor says his office is aware of “multiple sightings of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles” and state agencies have been coordinating with law enforcement in response. Youngkin added that he’s “deeply concerned” with a lack of information from federal authorities.
The full statement, issued Saturday afternoon, is below.
RICHMOND, VA – Governor Glenn Youngkin issued the following update after multiple sightings of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, were reported in and around the Commonwealth:
“The Commonwealth of Virginia is home to a significant number of national security and critical infrastructure sites upon which our nation depends each and every day. I remain deeply concerned that Virginia has consistently sought information from federal partners, and to date, the information shared with the Commonwealth has been insufficient,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “The Virginia State Police Homeland Security Division and Virginia Department of Emergency Management continue to closely coordinate through our Fusion Center with the greater law enforcement and first responder community regarding drone activity in the Commonwealth. We will continue to engage with numerous federal partners and release further information as it becomes known and available.”
The public at-large can continue to assist the Commonwealth by reporting observations to the Virginia Fusion Center at [email protected] or (877)4VA-TIPS. Please do not attempt to interfere with UAVs by utilizing personally owned drones or any other airborne craft or attempting to capture the suspected drone/aircraft individually.
Many of the supposed drone sightings have been outside of the immediate D.C. area and inner suburbs like Arlington. NBC 4 last night reported on sightings over Fairfax, while noting that unauthorized drone flights are prohibited in the 14-mile no-fly zone around the Capitol.
The rash of drone sightings follows widespread reports of possible drones spotted over New Jersey. But like many of the videos from New Jersey, at least some of the Northern Virginia videos seen by ARLnow on social networks like X (formerly Twitter) appear to show commercial jetliners, not drones.
Still, many of those posting videos (and replying with their own sighting stories) insist that what they saw were flying low and “definitely not airplanes.”
So far ARLnow is not aware of any recent, credible reports of unidentified drones over Arlington. A Dominion Hills resident posted about a drone sighting on the social network Nextdoor three days ago — but later said it turned out to be a police drone that was being used for an investigation in Fairfax County.
DRONE (??) SIGHTING IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA.
At 9:57pm tonight, I was driving south on I-66 W, mm 18, when I spotted something hovering in the sky. I started filming with my phone before hitting the breaks and pulling over to get a better video. It proceeds to fly right over me. pic.twitter.com/AqFxIeUvlL
— Adam Moyer (@Moyer_TV) December 13, 2024
I just saw about 20 drones in northern Virginia 15 miles away from DC
This is creepy!! pic.twitter.com/BDCFoKrcrx— dunya alaasemi (@DDalaasemi) December 12, 2024
Drones Spotted Over Manassas, Northern Virginia: Residents in Manassas.Multiple drones were spotted hovering in the night sky. pic.twitter.com/3uMRBSHFIV
— Mukhtar Niazi (@Mukhtarniazi88) December 14, 2024
