Danish authorities have officially admitted they found no evidence to prove that mysterious flying objects that disrupted operations at Copenhagen Airport in 2025 were drones, raising serious questions over earlier claims that Russia may have been involved.
The revelation comes after a nine-month investigation by Danish police into a high-profile incident that triggered flight suspensions and sparked concerns of a potential “hybrid attack” on critical infrastructure.
In September 2025, Danish airports, including the main hub in Copenhagen, temporarily halted operations after reports of unidentified flying objects near runways. The incident caused significant disruption to commercial air traffic and prompted an urgent security response.
At the time, Danish officials suggested the possibility of Russian involvement, though no concrete evidence was ever made public. The accusations fueled wider fears across Europe over alleged Russian sabotage and drone operations targeting NATO infrastructure.
However, Danish police chief Soren Thomassen said on Thursday that investigators could neither confirm nor deny that drones were present near the airport.
*”We cannot demonstrate that there was drone activity in and around the airport,”* Thomassen said while announcing the closure of the investigation.
Authorities reviewed a vast range of material, including witness accounts, CCTV footage, photos, videos, radar data, and air and maritime traffic records. Despite the extensive probe, investigators failed to identify the objects or link them to any hostile actor.
One radar reportedly tracked an object moving at approximately 100 km/h over the Oresund Strait. But investigators later discovered that the bird radar system at Copenhagen Airport was not designed to detect drones, weakening the initial claims.
The case had already begun to unravel shortly after the incident. Open-source investigators suggested that one widely circulated video likely showed a training aircraft rather than a drone. Internal reports also indicated that air traffic controllers did not observe any drones during the airport shutdown.
Adding further doubt, Danish police acknowledged earlier this year that the credibility of a key witness had come under scrutiny.
The development marks an embarrassing setback for Danish authorities and adds to growing debate over Europe’s response to alleged Russian “hybrid warfare” activities. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen had previously described the airport incident as a direct attack on Denmark’s critical infrastructure.
This week, investigators also revealed that separate probes into other alleged drone sightings across Denmark in late 2025 similarly found no evidence of unauthorized or hostile drone activity.
The findings are likely to intensify scrutiny over how European governments handle security threats and whether premature accusations against Russia may have contributed to unnecessary alarm.
As NATO countries remain on high alert amid rising tensions with Moscow, the Danish case highlights the risks of acting on incomplete intelligence in an increasingly volatile security environment.