Drone Found on Roof of Japanese PM Residence

On April 22 a small drone carrying a camera and a plastic bottle of water with trace amounts of cesium (a poison, and one of the radioactive substances released in the Fukushima disaster) was found on the roof of the Kantei. The Kantei is the official residence of the Japanese prime minister (like the White House or Number 10 Downing Street), except Prime Minister Abe commutes there from his close-by private residence.

Attachments:

Kantei - Residence of Prime Minister.kmz (1.5 KB)

I think we're just beginning to see the trouble that drones will be causing.  Or, I should say, their operators.

I think you're right, Diane. That same drone could have easily been in the hands of some nut-job like the Aam Shin Rikyō folks who dumped sarin gas in the Tokyo subway system 10 years ago last months. I think we will be forced to create no-fly zones near our centers of power, because they have the potential for being very disruptive.

The perpetrator has turned himself in. He was, as I suspected, protesting against the Abe government's policy on nuclear power. Before he was apprehended, it was announced that the drone had to have been launched within 1.2 km of the Kantei. I did a neat trick with a new (to me) GEPro tool, which I have attached below.

2xClick on the helicopter.

Attachments:

Kantei Drone Incident.kmz (3.06 KB)