*Above video: Courtesy of Brian Kovach*
FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio (WJW) — The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) sent Fox 8 News a statement Tuesday about the five large military helicopters hovering over downtown Cleveland and west side suburbs Sunday.
For two days now, many people on social media posted a lot photos and videos of the helicopters, appearing to have no markings, swooping over Cleveland and west side suburbs.
NE Ohioans were intrigued and speculated where they were from and why they were here.
Now we know.
RCAF Special Operations Aviation Squadron was in Cleveland
“The Canadian Special Operations Forces Command (CANSOFCOM) can confirm that five CH 146 Griffon helicopters from 427 Special Operations Aviation Squadron were present in Cleveland, Ohio on Sunday, 23 June 2024. They were on their way in support of an exercise in the United States and stayed overnight in Cleveland to clear customs before travelling to their destination,” said Sue Beler with Canada’s Department of National Defense.
“CANSOFCOM often trains in the US as our personnel are accustomed with the training areas in Canada, thus limiting the ability to test and exercise our capability to operate in the real world. By training in the unfamiliar areas in the US, our personnel are provided with very realistic and challenging scenarios preparing them for future deployments,” Beler stated.
SOCIAL MEDIA WAS ABUZZ SUNDAY
NE Ohioans were clamoring on social media Sunday, wanting to know what those “mysterious” helicopters were, and it appeared the helicopters had no markings on them as they flew low and loud at times over cities and neighborhoods.
A closer look at photos shared with FOX 8 News from NE Ohioan Bruce Bishop showed one of the helicopter tail numbers is registered to the Royal Canadian Air Force.
By zooming in on his photos, the helicopters are marked with RCAF and have the Canadian flag on them.
Bishop saw the impressive site Sunday when he was at Hopkins.
SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS ON SUNDAY
“Wow that was cool. Five Helicopters flew over. Someone on the Ring app said it was military.” Christian posted.
“I wonder if it is part of the movie filming downtown,” Darci asked.
“They were loud and low … five of them!” Jane commented.
“Royal Canadian Air Force helicopters,” Bruce said.
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