Terrifying new development in drone invasion as mystery aircraft hit the Midwest

A key US Air Force Base has been forced to close after drones were spotted circling above, marking the latest sinister development in the mystery aircraft saga. 

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio shut down for around four hours late on Friday night into Saturday morning, according to CNN affiliate WHIO. 

The location is the latest military base targeted by the ominous flying objects. They have also been seen whirring over Picatinny Arsenal, home of the US Army's CCDC Armaments Center, and Naval Weapons Station Earle, both in New Jersey. 

The Biden administration's dismissal of the drones as nothing to worry about - despite failing to provide any explanation about what's behind the flurry of activity - prompted speculation that the aircraft are being operated by the US military. 

But this comparatively reassuring theory is somewhat undermined by the closure of Wright-Patterson - the first base to publicly announce a shutdown - potentially compromising US military readiness in the event of an enemy attack. 

Bob Purtiman, chief of public affairs for the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson, said the 'small unmanned aerial systems' were monitored by officials during the shutdown on Friday night. 

'To date, installation leadership has determined none of the incursions impacted base residents, facilities or assets,' Purtiman told WHIO. 

In a recording of the air traffic control tower at the base posted on YouTube by The War Zone, a controller tells pilots to 'use extreme caution' due to 'heavy UAS activity' above. UAS stands for 'unmanned aircraft system'.

Wright-Patterson is located around five miles outside the city of Dayton in west Ohio. It's home to critical US AIr Force commands, including the Air Force Research Lab. 

It also hosts the Air Force Materiel Command, which 'conducts research, development, test and evaluation, and provides acquisition management services and logistics support necessary to keep Air Force weapon systems ready for war,' according to its website. 

In New Jersey, the epicenter of the flurry, 964 sightings have been logged since the first report on November 19, up until December 13, according to statistics collected by the state’s Office of Emergency Management and shared with the New York Post. 

Yet despite the startling volume of apparent sightings - which have prompted locals to shoot into the sky and even sparked the closure of an airport in neighboring New York - officials are yet to provide answers about who or what is behind the drones. 

Former CIA operations officer Laura Ballman voiced the theory that the drones lighting up multi-state skies could be part of a 'classified exercise' by the US military.

She told Fox News Live last week that the sightings are 'extremely unsettling,' while sharing the idea that they may be part of a technology 'test' orchestrated by the federal government. 

Ballman said: 'Now in terms of who is behind this, seeing the statements that have been made by John Kirby, who has said that these objects are not operating illegally.

'Coupled with the several op-eds that have been out there in the last 24 hours about the need to look at our detection systems, [it] makes me think perhaps this is actually a classified exercise to test either evasion technology or detection technology in urban areas.'

But the apparent targeting of US military facilities is now making way for alternative theories that the drones may have been sent by foreign powers. 

Intelligence analysts have hypothesized that the Kremlin could have sent the drones to the East Coast as part of a mission linked to Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine. 

Retired police lieutenant and intelligence analyst Tim McMillan told DailyMail.com suspicions were raised due to the location of many sightings - Picatinny Arsenal, a major plant which manufactures ammunition supplied to Ukraine. 

Lt McMillan also noted that descriptions of the flying objects 'sound exactly like Russian Orlan-10 drones' — secretive craft which fly in packs of three to five. 

Meanwhile, US Army general Darryl Williams said the situation mirrors what has unfolded at American/NATO bases across Europe which are also are known to supply arms to Ukraine. 

Gordon Chang, a senior fellow at conservative think tank the Gatestone Institute and an expert on Chinese affairs, also said the drones are likely a result of foreign powers spying on the US.   

He said the drones appeared to be highly sophisticated and so were not being controlled by amateurs.

'These activities are too large and well-organized to be the work of hobbyists,' Chang told Fox Business on Saturday. 

'That leaves foreign powers. It could be Iran in connection with China, but clearly, somebody is trying to divert our attention.' 

Chang suggested that while the drones themselves are unsettling, he was more troubled by the fact that they could be a distraction for a far greater threat.

'What really worries me is what they might be doing elsewhere. We could very well get hit,' he told Fox.

New Jersey lawmaker Jeff Van Drew made the stunning claim this week that Iran could be behind the mysterious drones. 

The Republican told Fox News the Middle East power had launched a 'mothership' stationed off the Garden State coast.

'These are from high sources,' he claimed. 'I don't say this lightly.' He then added the drones should be 'shot down' - something which is illegal under federal law and can be punished with up to 20 years in prison. 

However, the Pentagon promptly cast this theory out - saying there is no evidence the drones are the work of an adversary and denied there's an Iranian 'mothership' lurking off the US coast.

White House National Security spokesman John Kirby has said the aircraft are not foreign - and they may not even be drones.

'We have no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat or have a foreign nexus,' Kirby told reporters on Thursday. 

'The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are investigating these sightings, and they're working closely with the state and local law enforcement to provide resources using numerous detection methods to better understand their origin,' Kirby said.

He said the agencies used 'very sophisticated electronic detection technologies' but  'have not been able to – and neither state or local law enforcement –  corroborate any of the reported visual sightings.'

'To the contrary, upon review of available imagery, it appears that many of the reported sightings are actually manned aircraft being operated lawfully,' he said, denying the aircraft were even drones.