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One lucky college student accidentally received a $350,000 drone in the mail

Published May 6th, 2014 10:00PM EDT
College Kid Receives A Drone In The Mail

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It has all the makings of a terrible early-’80s frat comedy: A college kid receives an expensive aerial drone in the mail and hilarity ensues involving drone-assisted beer runs and raids of girls’ dorm rooms. Amazingly, Motherboard reports that something very similar actually happened recently when a college student in the Boston area accidentally received parts of a $350,000 aerial drone in the mail and posted pictures of it on Reddit. Motherboard confirmed that the drone is actually the property of the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the agency has told the publication that it’s not sure exactly how the drone wound up in the student’s mailbox.

“We sent one of our Puma unmanned aircraft systems to Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts,” an NOAA representative told Motherboard, who also said that the drone is capable of flying for around two hours at a time and has an eight-mile radius. “We sent a set of about eight boxes for this one aircraft system, and one was misdelivered by UPS. We’re working with UPS to find it.”

In other words, if the college student is going to try assemble the drone and use it to commit zany antics, he’d better do it soon because the mean old federal government is coming to ruin his fun Dean Wormer-style.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.