Unidentified drones spotted over the Rubio and Hegset bases have raised alarm in the US
This is according to The Washington Post.
Unidentified drones were spotted over Fort Leslie J. McNeir in Washington, where the residences of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hagset are located. According to The Washington Post, the drones were detected over the course of a single night in the last 10 days, and US officials have not yet determined their origin.
The incident occurred against a backdrop of heightened security following US and Israeli strikes on Iran. As The Washington Post reports, the US military is monitoring potential threats more closely, and following the appearance of drones over the base in Washington, a separate meeting was held at the White House to discuss the next steps.
Reuters, citing The Washington Post, reported that due to these flights, the authorities were considering the possibility of temporarily relocating Rubio and Hegset. At the same time, a senior administration official said that both officials remained at the base.
The Pentagon has not publicly disclosed any details regarding the drones. The department’s chief spokesperson, Sean Parnell, stated only that the ministry does not comment on the defence secretary’s movements for security reasons. The State Department did not respond to journalists’ enquiries.
The drone incident coincided with a broader tightening of security measures at US military facilities. The Washington Post reports that the US issued a global security alert for diplomatic missions abroad, and several bases within the United States were temporarily placed on a higher security alert level.
In particular, McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst base in New Jersey and MacDill Air Force Base in Florida have raised their security level to Charlie. This means that the command has information about a possible threat or the likelihood of an attack. The only level higher than this is Delta, which is applied when an attack has already taken place or is considered imminent.
Separately, Reuters notes that the FBI is investigating a suspicious package, which led to the closure of the visitor centre at McDill Air Force Base for several hours. Furthermore, on 18 March, a shelter-in-place order was also implemented there due to another security incident.
Thus, the appearance of unidentified drones over the base in Washington was not an isolated incident, but part of a broader wave of security tensions in the US against the backdrop of escalation in the Middle East. However, the US authorities have not yet named those responsible nor publicly stated that these flights are directly linked to Iran. This remains a matter for internal response and risk assessment.
