Wright-Patterson AFB: Black cube-shaped UAS reported at FL160
On December 19, 2024, flight personnel reported a highly unusual unmanned aircraft described as a black cube. The object passed beneath their aircraft at sixteen thousand feet near Appleton VOR, approximately seventy miles east-northeast of the base.
Background
During the evening of December 19, 2024, the crew of a westbound aircraft encountered an anomalous object while cruising at sixteen thousand feet. The sighting occurred near the Appleton VOR navigation beacon, roughly seventy to eighty miles east-northeast of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The flight team reported that the device passed approximately five hundred feet below their position.
What distinguished this report from other drone incidents was the object's distinct geometry. Observers characterized the unmanned system as a black cube, a shape rarely associated with conventional consumer or military drones. Although quality assurance coordinates placed the location well east of the installation, the timing connected this sighting to the broader series of incursions documented that week through the SKYWATCH system.
The unusual morphology and high-altitude operation of this craft distinguished it from typical quadcopter or fixed-wing unmanned systems, generating significant analytical interest among researchers examining the broader Wright-Patterson drone mystery.