The Psychology Behind the European Drone Scare
Europe has experienced similar panics for over a century.
Posted September 25, 2025 | Reviewed by Gary Drevitch
In recent days there has been widespread concern across Europe over mass sightings of mystery drones spotted in the skies. Reports have been concentrated over countries that are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO – a defence pact among many European countries. A psychological perspective can be useful in understanding the wave of reports as well as lessons from history.
The historical context and ongoing geopolitical tensions are key factors driving the scare. The reports have been concentrated over Northern European in countries that have a longstanding fear of Russian invasion. These countries have had an antagonistic relationship with Russia and the former Soviet Union dating back over 200 years with heated political rhetoric, border disputes, spy accusations, wars, and invasion fears. Amid the ongoing war in Ukraine and recent confirmed Russian drone and aircraft incursions into NATO airspace, people are more likely to be looking to the skies and searching for evidence of hostile foreign aircraft.
During the 1930s ‘ghost planes’ were commonly sighted above Scandinavia that were believed to have been Russian aircraft with hostile intentions. Theories included the notion that they were on reconnaissance missions as a prelude to an attack. Many of these reports corresponded with the appearance of known astronomical bodies such as Venus low on the horizon. In reality, no aircraft of the time could have remained aloft for the periods that were often observed or to have operated in such hazardous conditions such as gale force winds. These sightings were a classic example of the old adage: ‘Speak of the devil and he is bound to appear.’
In 1946, Northern European countries were in a panic over mass sightings of ‘ghost rockets.’ At the end of the war, Russian troops occupied Peenemunde, the former center of Nazi rocket science which developed the V-rocket. In the political uncertainty after the war, there was concern over how much territory the Soviet Union would claim in northern Europe. It was at this time that mass sightings of missiles were spotted flying over Scandinavia. The common belief at the time was that the Soviets were firing the rockets to intimidate Northern European countries. Astronomer Louis Winkler has correlated the sightings to a rare confluence of two events: the appearance of geomagnetic comets along with high solar activity which generated an array of spectacular auroras and amplified the appearance of meteors and cometary spray streaking across the sky. The ghost rocket scare endured from May to September and rapidly declined after government investigations revealed that they were the result of celestial phenomena.
The long history of Russian invasion fears, coupled with recent anxieties over hostile drones in NATO airspace, have rekindled these longstanding fears. A contributing factor is the fallibility of eyewitness testimony, which is known to be unreliable and subject to error. As psychologists and defense attorneys know all too well, there have been several high-profile cases where people have been executed for committing murder, only to be exonerated by DNA evidence after their deaths.
Are there are drones? Yes. Could some be Russian? Of course. It's also possible that pranksters are joining in for attention . But the mass sightings of drones seemingly everywhere in recent days across Northern Europe points to a psychological explanation for the overwhelming number of reports. Viewed from this perspective and the history of Russian invasion fears in the region, the current episode might in the end best be described as a collective anxiety attack.
Bartholomew, Robert, and Weatherhead, Paul (2024). Social Panics & Phantom Attackers: A Study of Imaginary Assailants . Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
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Robert Bartholomew, Ph.D. , is an American born medical sociologist, writer, journalist, human rights advocate.
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