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🗞️ Story file #1831

US air force responds to suspected drone activity at UK airbase

Nov 13, 5 PM ET to Nov 14, 7 PM ET

👣 How this story traveled: from the front pages that broke it, out through TV, radio and the shows, into what people retold and what fact-checkers examined, and on into the saga it is part of. Everything here is matched to the story by our tools, so a link can be wrong; the trackers' pages say how each is made.

📰 read it at: The GuardianAxiosCNNMediaiteNBC NewsThe Washington PostBBCNewsweekThe Epoch TimesThe SunIJRNew York PostNewsmaxRed State

  1. Nov 13, 4 PM ET

    first on front pages: BBC and The Sun

  2. Nov 13, 8 PM ET

    first on the radio: NPR News Now

  3. Nov 13, 10 PM ET

    first on TV: BBC News

  4. Nov 14, 4 PM ET

    peak: on 14 front pages at once

📰 Spread

the front pages that ran it, hour by hour

7146 PMSat6 AM12 PM6 PMpeak: 14 front pages, Sat 4 PMFri Nov 13, 4 PM ET: on 2 front pages (1 center, 1 leans right) “US Air Force says it responded to 'suspected drones' over RAF Lakenheath” (BBC)Fri Nov 13, 5 PM ET: on 8 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 1 right, 3 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Fri Nov 13, 6 PM ET: on 11 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 3 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “US air force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF Lakenheath” (The Guardian)Fri Nov 13, 7 PM ET: on 11 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 3 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “US air force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF Lakenheath” (The Guardian)Fri Nov 13, 8 PM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Fri Nov 13, 9 PM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Fri Nov 13, 10 PM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Fri Nov 13, 11 PM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 12 AM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 1 AM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 2 AM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 3 AM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 4 AM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 5 AM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 6 AM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 7 AM ET: on 12 front pages (2 center, 1 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 8 AM ET: on 13 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “US air force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF Lakenheath” (The Guardian)Sat Nov 14, 9 AM ET: on 13 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “US air force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF Lakenheath” (The Guardian)Sat Nov 14, 10 AM ET: on 13 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “US air force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF Lakenheath” (The Guardian)Sat Nov 14, 11 AM ET: on 13 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “US air force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF Lakenheath” (The Guardian)Sat Nov 14, 12 PM ET: on 13 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “US air force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF Lakenheath” (The Guardian)Sat Nov 14, 1 PM ET: on 13 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “US air force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF Lakenheath” (The Guardian)Sat Nov 14, 2 PM ET: on 13 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “US air force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF Lakenheath” (The Guardian)Sat Nov 14, 3 PM ET: on 13 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 4 leans left, 1 left) “US air force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF Lakenheath” (The Guardian)Sat Nov 14, 4 PM ET: on 14 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 5 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 5 PM ET: on 14 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 5 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 6 PM ET: on 14 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 5 leans left, 1 left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)Sat Nov 14, 7 PM ET: on 13 front pages (2 center, 2 leans right, 4 right, 5 leans left) “U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK base” (Axios)
Front pages carrying it each hour, by the outlets' lean, the side that had it first at the bottom:leftleans leftcenterleans rightright. First: BBC and The Sun, Fri 4:00 PM ET.
Nov 13, 6 PMNov 146 AM12 PM6 PMBBCBBCBBC, Nov 13, 4:00 PM ET: US Air Force says it responded to 'suspected drones' over RAF LakenheathThe SunThe SunThe Sun, Nov 13, 4:00 PM ET: BASE ALERT Air raid siren rings out over RAF base after ‘suspected drone activity’New York PostNew York PostNew York Post, Nov 13, 5:00 PM ET: Unauthorized drones at UK air force base prompt security response just weeks after Iran-linked plot against US planesNewsweekNewsweekNewsweek, Nov 13, 5:00 PM ET: US Air Force Responds to Drone Activity at Base in UK After Iran ThreatCNNCNNCNN, Nov 13, 5:00 PM ET: US air force responds to suspected drone activity over UK airbaseCNN, Nov 13, 6:00 PM ET: US Air Force responds to suspected drone activity over UK airbaseThe GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, Nov 13, 5:00 PM ET: US air force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF LakenheathNBC NewsNBC NewsNBC News, Nov 13, 5:00 PM ET: Drone activity over U.S. base in Britain prompts security response, U.S. military saysAxiosAxiosAxios, Nov 13, 5:00 PM ET: U.S. responds to unauthorized drone activity at UK baseIJRIndependent Journal ReviewIndependent Journal Review, Nov 13, 6:00 PM ET: US Air Force responds to suspected drone activity at RAF LakenheathMediaiteMediaiteMediaite, Nov 13, 6:00 PM ET: BREAKING: Security Alert at US Airbase in UK Over Suspected Drone ActivityRed StateRed StateRed State, Nov 13, 6:00 PM ET: Unauthorized Drones Trigger ‘Real World’ Shelter Alert at UK Base Hosting US ForcesNewsmaxNewsmaxNewsmax, Nov 13, 8:00 PM ET: US Forces Respond to Suspected Drones Over UK BaseThe Epoch TimesThe Epoch TimesThe Epoch Times, Nov 14, 8:00 AM ET: US Air Force Responds to Suspected Drone Activity at UK AirbaseThe Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post, Nov 14, 4:00 PM ET: U.S. investigates suspected ‘unauthorized drone activity’ at U.K. air base📺 TVBBC News, 10:18 PM ET: US Air Force: Suspected drones at RAF LakenheathBBC News, 11:18 PM ET: US Air Force: Suspected drones at RAF LakenheathBBC News, 12:44 AM ET: US Air Force: Suspected drones at RAF LakenheathBBC News, 12:45 AM ET: US Air Force: Suspected drones at RAF LakenheathBBC News, 12:53 AM ET: US Air Force: Suspected drones at RAF LakenheathFox News, 9:21 AM ET: RAF FIGHTER DVALISHVILI CLAIMS RIVAL ATTACKED HIMBBC News, 5:44 PM ET: Security Brief: UK air defences📻 radioNPR News Now, Nov 13, 8:09 PM ET: story 5 of 7
Who carried it and when: each outlet in the order it picked the story up, a bar for each headline from when we first saw it on the front page to when we last did, in the outlet's lean color (dashed: not rated); a dot marks a new headline, and a headline swapped for a new one between our hourly looks runs on to it. A gap means a look found the story gone from that front page. Beneath, its captions on TV, the radio newscasts that carried it (bigger: the lead) and when people were found retelling it. Hover for details.

💬 Quoted

  1. “Real World”1
  2. “suspected drone activity”1
  3. “suspected drones”1
  4. “unauthorized drone activity”1

phrases its headlines put in quotation marks; the bar is how many outlets did

📌 Linked by aggregators

1 Drudge Report

aggregators linking to it from their front page (they don't count as outlets covering it)

▸ ✏️ 1 outlet ran more than one headline on it (reworded, or a follow-up)
  • CNN (2 wordings): “US air force responds to suspected drone activity over UK airbase” → “US Air Force responds to suspected drone activity over UK airbase”
📰 Every outlet's headline 14left to right by AllSides rating

📡 Broadcast

TV, radio, and the shows that talked about it

📺 On TV

minutes its captions were on screen, by channel; the disc is the network's lean

  1. ⚖️ BBC News 5 min
  2. 🐘 Fox News 15 s

📻 On the radio

hourly newscasts that carried it, by show; beside the count, how often it was the lead story, or the highest it came in the running order

  1. 🫏 NPR News Now 1× · best #5

🎙️ On the shows

podcasts, newsletters and streams that talked about it, by show; the bar is episodes; the disc is the show's lean by reputation

  1. 🐘 Benny Johnson 1
  2. 🫏 David Pakman Show 1

🕵️ Investigated, joked about

🕵️ investigative reporting on it and 🃏 satire joking about it (jokes, never counted as coverage); the bar is pieces

No investigator or satirist matched to it yet.

🧶 Retelling

what people online made of it

Nobody's retelling it online yet, as far as the daily reports of the last week can tell.

🗣️ Names in it

Royal Air ForceU.S. Air ForceRAF LakenheathIran

🔎 Checking

what the fact-checkers looked into

No fact-checker has taken it on yet.

🧵 Persistence

the running story it belongs to

🧵 U.S. Military Deployment in UK →

  1. 1

    Oct 7, 9 AM ET

    U.S. bombers withdrawn from UK base due to threat concerns

  2. 2

    Oct 4, 6 PM ET

    U.S. removes bombers from UK base amid suspected Iranian drone plot

  3. 3

    Nov 10, 5 AM ET

    U.S. moves aircraft from second UK base over Iran threat

  4. 4

    Nov 10, 6 PM ET

    US charges three men with plotting terror attacks including planned assault on UK airbase

  5. 5

    Nov 13, 5 PM ET · 📍 this story

    US air force responds to suspected drone activity at UK airbase

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