At about 8:30 a.m. local time, 'a moving mark' appeared on the radar of the command center of the U.S. congressional police station, which is located in the restricted airspace of Washington. As a result, the White House and the Capitol of the United States urgently sounded the alarm and closed briefly, and military aircraft dispatched from the air force base.
U.S. media reported that there is no final conclusion on what happened. It may be an unauthorized UAV, an 'atmospheric anomaly', or a flock of birds.
Fox News reported on the 26th local time that 'abnormal radar signal' caused an 'emergency security situation', and police warned people outside the Capitol to stay away. The Pentagon initially identified the 'intruder' as an 'unknown aircraft'.
Meanwhile, the local police dispatched a helicopter and the military dispatched a fighter from joint base Andrews. At the White House, the secret service issued a 'shelter in place' order and instructed reporters to stay in the briefing room on the edge of the west side.
About 30 minutes later, the security alerts of the White House and Congress were lifted. Pentagon spokesman Christian middot; Christian Mitchell said, 'the plane has been identified as & lsquo; No hostility & rsquo
However, things have reversed here. Fox News and CNN have reported that the relevant departments have not confirmed that the 'uninvited guest' is a plane.
Fox News reported that at first, they were told that an 'unauthorized aircraft' had flown over Washington's restricted airspace. But later, someone told the media that relevant personnel might have to look at the radar again to determine what caused the panic. For this "uninvited person", the source said that they have only received "mixed signals".
Fox News also quoted other sources as saying that it was' never sure 'whether there were planes flying. What they saw may be just' abnormal phenomena ', or even' geese '.
A defense official interviewed by CNN also said that the incident has not been finalized. "At present, three possible causes are being analyzed: birds, atmospheric anomalies or UAVs."
A White House official and a police officer also believed that the UAV "is only a possible situation".
Subsequently, two other congressional police sources told CNN that considering the slow speed of the flight and the way it was displayed on the radar, this group of Marks' may be just a flock of birds, and then disappeared '.
CNN also learned from the air traffic control audio they obtained that a pilot codenamed 'Blackjack' was reporting to the control center and saw a flock of birds.
Pilot: 'we, uh, almost hit a flock of birds.'
Control center: 'did you see their movements?'
Pilot: 'yes, they're going north, northwest.'
In response to this episode, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric & middot; "A trained radar operator should be able to distinguish between birds and aircraft, but this error is actually quite common," Leighton said
'the way birds appear on the radar screen is very similar to the radar of small aircraft. This sometimes happens on old radar systems. " He added.
At present, the White House and Congress have resumed normal operation, and all security alerts have been lifted.
CNN pointed out that according to the Federal Aviation Administration, "the airspace around Washington is more restrictive than anywhere else in the United States, because after 9 / 11, a & lsquo; Defense airspace;, The passage of aircraft is also authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration and the transportation safety administration. "