Officials say that at drones were spotted flying over at least five monuments and government buildings in Paris in what the Associated Press calls “most audacious of several mysterious drone overflights around France in recent months.” The flights are illegal in France.
The AP’s description makes the drones seem both ominous and fantastic:
The drones flew in three stages while the capital was under darkness, said Paris prosecutors’ spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre.
First, one was spotted above the U.S. Embassy, then one at the Eiffel Tower, and then later drones were spotted over the Louvre Museum in central Paris, the Bastille monument to the French Revolution in eastern Paris, the Montparnasse tower in southern Paris, and the Interior Ministry headquarters, she said.
It is unclear, at this time, who was operating the drones and whether the five flights were coordinated. Officials are investigating.
The news comes just a month after a drone crashed on the White House lawn and weeks after the FAA’s first attempt to rein in small drones. The U.S. Embassy in France, has not, however, commented on Tuesday’s drone flight.
(Photo: David Rodriguez Martin)
