Mysterious drones spotted in Maryland; officials investigating

BETHESDA, Md. - FOX 5 has received video of what viewers believe are drones the size of cars flying over Bowie, Maryland. 

Bowie Police say they started getting calls about large drones flying over the city Monday night. Several people on social media said they also saw the drones and posted videos of them.

Officials say they do not know who is operating them or why they were flying over Bowie. 

Autumn Stasulli of Bowie said she saw five drones the size of cars flying over Bowie for about 25 minutes and also spotted what she thinks was some sort of aircraft following them after they left.

"I had really clear skies, and I saw about three to five of them. Two of them were in close proximity, and I thought, 'Oh my goodness, this is crazy, this is actually happening,' and I went back to my street where my house is, and they were still there," said Stasulli. 

Maryland Congressman Glenn Ivey, who is a member of the House Homeland Security Committee, says he has a lot of questions about this. Ivey says he’s raised the issue with both the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security. 

"Well, I think we’re certainly trying to figure out what the heck is going on with this. As we’ve said, we’ve gotten a lot of complaints up in the New Jersey area, and now we’re getting them down here in the DMV as well," said Ivey. 

Virginia Senator Tim Kaine says he’s still waiting for answers after drones flew over Langley Air Force Base nearly a year ago. For several nights last December, U.S. military personnel reported witnessing a fleet of unknown unmanned aircraft breach restricted airspace over a stretch of land at Langley Air Force Base along Virginia's shore, the Wall Street Journal first reported. 

The drones would start to arrive about 45 minutes to an hour after sunset each night, one official reportedly told U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Kelly. Kelly described the first drone he saw as roughly 20 feet long and flying at more than 100 miles an hour, at an altitude of roughly 3,000 to 4,000 feet. As many as a dozen or more drones followed, flying across Chesapeake Bay, and then traveling toward Norfolk, Virginia. 

"They’re the kind that commercial drone operators use, but they also have features on them — I’m a little limited in what I can say, some of what I know is classified — that makes them not an ‘off the shelf’ drone you’d buy at a hobby store," said Kaine. 

Bowie Police said there appears to be no immediate danger from the drones. The White House says they are aware of the reports and that both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security are investigating.