Matamoros residents reported seeing a U.S. Navy helicopter flying over a neighborhood and a busy shopping mall on the city's southside.
It all happened in the Fraccionamiento Victoria and the Plaza Fiesta shopping center around 1:50 p.m. Friday.
The helicopter was also spotted in the Las Arboledas neighborhood just east of the Veterans International Bridge.
Witnesses used the #Matamoros hashtag of Twitter to report seeing a blue helicopter with white and red colors and the words “US Navy” written on it.
U.S. Navy Reacts
Action 4 News spoke to the U.S. Naval Air Station in Kingsville, which is the nearest base in the area.
Officials at the base said they don’t have helicopters stationed there and that U.S. Navy helicopters don’t match the description given by residents.
The incident comes following several documented Mexican military helicopter incursions in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.
Residents React
No photos or video were taken of the reported American helicopter in Matamoros but residents were quick to react to the incident on Twitter.
“A helicopter from the USA crossed illegally into Mexican territory in Matamoros, Tamauilpas,” one man wrote on Twitter. “What will the damn gringos say now?!?”
Another person agreed.
“It doesn’t seem like anything good this helicopter that was over Matamoros a while ago, which according to my brother said, ‘US Navy’,” the person wrote. “Who gave them permission?”
Another resident had a different perspective.
“You all seem so small, you’re worried about a gringo helicopter in Matamoros when there are four drones that fly above us daily without being seen,” he wrote.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT