--- title: "Navy Official: Mysterious Drones Are Also Swarming Other Countries’ Ships" description: "Reports of mysterious swarms of drones hovering above US Navy ships in July 2019 have top military officials puzzled." date: "2021-04-06" modified: "2021-04-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/navy-official-mysterious-drones-swarming-other-countries-ships" categories: - "Drones" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "drones" - "Navy" - "the digest" - "US Navy" --- # Navy Official: Mysterious Drones Are Also Swarming Other Countries’ Ships ![Reports of mysterious swarms of drones hovering above US Navy ships in July 2019 have top military officials puzzled.]() *\Image: US National Archives / Futurism\* ## Drone Swarms Reports of [mysterious swarms of drones]() buzzing US Navy ships in July 2019 have top military officials puzzled. A series of lights appeared to "swarm" a fleet of American destroyers off the coast of Southern California, [*The Drive* reported]() at the time. The Navy still has no idea what could be behind the lights, which were traveling far too fast to be consumer drones. "No, we have not," Michael Gilday, the U.S. Navy's top officer, told reporters during a Monday roundtable when asked about the July 2019 incident, as [quoted by *The Drive*](). Interestingly, there may have been many more sightings like it, and not just by United States forces. "I am aware of those sightings and as it’s been reported there have been other sightings by aviators in the air and by other ships not only of the United States, but other nations – and of course other elements within the U.S. joint force," Gilday added. ## Status Unknown The officer said that "findings have been collected and they still are being analyzed" and there isn't "anything new to report." "But I will tell you we do have a well-established process in place across the joint force to collect that data and to get it to a separate repository for analysis," Gilday added. As *The Drive* points out, it's unclear if the official is referring to the Pentagon's Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), which was created last year to analyze sightings of "unauthorized aircraft." Reporters also took the opportunity to ask Gilday if he believed that extraterrestrials could be behind the swarms. The official said that he has "no indication at all of that." **REA MORE:** [Navy's Top Officer Says ‘Drones’ That Swarmed Destroyers Remain Unidentified]() \[*The Drive*\] **More on the sighting:** [*Navy Warships Were Swarmed by Mysterious Drones*]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()