Residents in San Antonio and surrounding areas expressed concern after seeing several planes hovering over their neighborhoods. On Monday, March 2, social media was flooded with clips, photos and statements regarding their whereabouts.
City Councilman Joaquin Castro retweeted a post on X (formerly Twitter) that showed a fleet of helicopters flying over the wooded neighborhood.
“Neighbor got a video,” the user captioned their post. “I know San Antonio is an American military city, but I’ve lived in this house since 2009 and I’ve never experienced anything like this… I don’t like it.”
MySA contacted Castro’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a reply.
The video received over 1.2 million views and over 200 comments, with many sharing their thoughts on the helicopter type. Some say they look similar to the CH-47 Chinook helicopter or Night Stalker, also known as the 160th SOAR (Abn).
“We’ve been through this too and it’s so shocking,” one user wrote.
The original poster responded that their “entire house” was “shaking violently for at least 30 seconds.” Additional sightings were reported on Facebook, Reddit and TikTok. Texans claim they have been spotted in the West Austin/Lakeway area, the Hill Country and Lampasas County.
Many accounts repeated the same observations: they had no lights on, were loud, and moved in groups.
“Maybe for a movie? – flying in good formation of course,” Wilson wrote in a post.
Maggie Thatcher McVicker wrote: “Yeah, very low, no lights. Never seen them that low, like under the radar. It’s concerning.”
Others believe they were likely “moving machines” or people, which wouldn’t be unusual considering how many military installations there are in the Alamo City.
Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA) includes Camp Bullis, Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base and Randolph Air Force Base. MySA contacted JBSA for comment.
This article was originally published on Helicopter fleet sighting in hilly San Antonio draws attention.