Mystery Drones Swarm Navy Destroyers

Unidentified drones swarmed U.S. Navy destroyers off California’s coast for nights on end, evading detection and raising alarms about unseen threats breaching national defenses.

Story Snapshot

Starting July 14, 2019, up to six mysterious drones harassed USS Kidd, Rafael Peralta, and Russell near Los Angeles for over 90 minutes nightly.
Drones displayed endurance and maneuvers beyond commercial capabilities, occurring over a sensitive naval training range.
Navy launched SNOOPIE teams, FBI joined probe, but no source identified despite multi-agency efforts.
Incidents persisted during investigation, highlighting detection gaps and security lapses.
Echoes 1956 Battle of Palmdale runaway drone chaos, underscoring persistent coastal drone risks.

2019 Drone Swarms Target Navy Destroyers

USS Kidd spotted the first unidentified aerial vehicle around 10:00 PM on July 14, 2019, approximately 100 miles west of Los Angeles. The encounter lasted over 90 minutes in low visibility. Drones flew low, performed aggressive maneuvers, and maintained formation. Crews tracked them via radar and night vision but failed to identify origins. This marked the start of repeated nightly incursions near a critical naval training area.

July 15 brought escalation. USS Rafael Peralta deployed its SNOOPIE team at 8:39 PM to investigate erratic drones reported by USS Russell. A Carnival Imagination cruise ship radioed confirmation of five to six UAVs, ruling out their operations. The event stretched three hours. Destroyers coordinated via radio, but drones evaded interception. Low light and proximity to urban centers amplified concerns over potential espionage.

Investigation Escalates with FBI Involvement

Navy intelligence from C3F MIOC joined by July 19. FACSFAC San Diego supplied flight schedules showing no U.S. UAV operations on July 14. Investigators analyzed intent through email chains, seeking classified briefings. Sightings renewed on USS Kidd July 25 from 1:20 to 1:52 AM, and prolonged on July 30 until 3:27 AM. FBI assessed national security threats in a support role to the Navy-led probe.

Efforts ruled out commercial and known military sources. Drones exceeded typical hobbyist endurance, flying for hours without visible launch or recovery. Chief of Naval Operations received briefings. A classified UAS briefing occurred July 25, but FOIA requests later denied details. The probe turned cold post-2021, leaving origins unresolved.

Historical Echoes in 1956 Battle of Palmdale

A runaway F6F Hellcat drone from Point Mugu NAS evaded Air Force interceptors in 1956 over Southern California. Pilots fired 208 rockets, igniting over 1,000 acres near populated areas. No injuries occurred, but a rocket landed near a civilian car. This incident exposed early drone control failures, paralleling 2019 security vulnerabilities off the same coast.

Military historians view Palmdale as a lesson in unreliability. Common threads persist: coastal launches, evasion tactics, unintended escalations. Both cases disrupted operations without attribution, fueling debates on aerial threat preparedness.

Tyler Rogoway of The War Zone described drones’ brazen maneuvers as beyond commercial tech, pointing to state actors or advanced hobbyists. He criticized investigative opacity despite FOIA-released logs and emails. Speculation includes foreign powers like China or Russia, though schedules debunked misidentifications. No consensus emerged on intent.

These swarms disrupted naval training, tying up SNOOPIE teams for hours and raising alerts near Los Angeles. Long-term, they spurred UAP policy shifts like the 2021 ODNI report and exposed radar gaps. Coastal communities faced proximity risks, amplifying political scrutiny on naval defenses. Broader effects advanced drone regulations and R&D, aligning with conservative priorities for robust security.