Senator Cassidy reveals new details on Barksdale Air Force Base drone incidents

BOSSIER CITY, La. (KSLA) - Louisiana U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy provided new information on unauthorized drones found flying over Barksdale Air Force Base this month.

Cassidy said the information comes from an unclassified briefing on the incidents.

“Since the beginning of Epic Fury, there’s been an uptick of these nationwide,” Cassidy said. “There’s been five or so at Barksdale from the 9th through the 15th. One was a hobbyist. The other four is unclear.”

Two of the drones have been recovered, or at least perhaps recovered, Cassidy said.

“They found a drone. They’re not sure it was the one related to the incursion,” he said.

The incidents are being treated as a police matter, but the Air Force is aware it might be more than that, Cassidy said.

“It might just have been probing what the Air Force would do in case they came along,” he said. “They have recovered two. They are looking for fingerprints and other things that might give information as to the origins of the drones.”

The base issued a shelter-in-place order on March 9 following the first known drone found flying over the base.

A spokesperson with the Second Bomb Wing said the drone posed a safety concern and is also a crime under federal law.