First, it was called drone activities over critical infrastructure. Now the minister calls it ‘aerial observations’

Report from Danish media on the Danish Government's change in tone on the "drone" issue. Translation:

The message was unmistakable. In a pre-recorded speech on September 25th, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that foreign drones were seen at some of the most important places in our society.

Drones have been seen in several places near critical infrastructure, both military and civilian. These are attacks that we must expect to see more of, she said, among other things, in the video speech.

On Monday, September 22nd, the airspace over Copenhagen Airport in Kastrup was closed for several hours due to what the police called "drone activities." No one has been arrested, but the authorities quickly established that it was a "capable actor."

Almost two weeks later, no charges have been filed. The authorities still cannot provide any clear answer as to what specific evidence they have. And National Police Commissioner Thorkild Fogde stated that the police still lack "concrete information" about which drones they were and where they came from.

The central question remains: Were there even drones seen over the largest airport in the Nordics in Kastrup and several military facilities around the country?

At a press conference on Friday with Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen and the head of the Danish Defence Intelligence Service, Thomas Ahrenkiel, there was suddenly a noticeable shift in rhetoric, especially from the Defense Minister.

"I think that the lesson from what we have seen in relation to drone observations – or what we are now increasingly calling aerial observations – is that it requires many different things to see precisely whether there is a drone or if it is some other object."

Mette Frederiksen said on Thursday that it is important to look at "the big picture" and not "isolated incidents." The same signals were heard from Troels Lund Poulsen during the press conference:

This is somewhat in line with what we are hearing today.

"Does this mean that you now do not actually know if it was in fact a hybrid attack we saw against Denmark last week?"

"I cannot comment much further than what the head of the FE [Danish Defence Intelligence Service] says, that an investigation is currently underway. But what we were also discussing last week was this simultaneous effort that took place against Denmark in several places at roughly the same time. And therefore, it was also the assessment at that time that it was a hybrid attack that we were subjected to."

The minister did not elaborate on what he meant by "at that time" it was the assessment – that is, whether the situation has changed since then.

The statement contrasts with the announcements from the authorities and especially the politicians in the days after the first drone reports. Here, Mette Frederiksen stated that it was an "attack" with drones.

DR News' defense correspondent, Mads Korsager, has also noted a shift in rhetoric. Judging by what is being said at the press conferences, something in the language of the authorities has changed. They have gone from quite firm descriptions of the drones' movement and light patterns to what the Defense Minister now calls aerial observations.

Whether the new language directly reflects that the authorities doubt whether there were any drones at all, Mads Korsager cannot say for sure. But from an outside perspective, it certainly seems as if many of the drone observations that were reported have turned out to have a natural explanation. But even if that is the case, there may still be real drones hidden in the flurry of observations.The problem is that they have not had electronic tools ready that could support what the human eyes saw, says Mads Korsager.