President And First Lady Were Not At The Residence At The Time

Maybe there's a lesson here about not flying your quadcopter near the White House at three o'clock in the morning.

The Secret Service confirmed Monday that a small UAV described as a quadcopter was recovered on the grounds of the White House early Monday morning. Fox News reports that the aircraft was flying at a very low altitude before going down on the southeast side of the President's official residence at about 0308 EST Monday.

The President and First Lady were not in the residence at the time of the incident, though it was not immediately known if the President's daughters were there at the time.

The New York Times reports that the operator of the UAV has been identified as a government employee who told the Secret Service that he was flying the aircraft for his personal enjoyment, but he lost control of the quadcopter and it flew onto the White House grounds. The employee has not been named, but he reportedly does not work at the white house.  The paper says that so far the Secret Service is accepting the explanation.

Speaking from New Delhi, Presidential press secretary Josh Earnest said that "There is a device that has been recovered by the Secret Service at the White House. The early indications are that it does not pose any sort of ongoing threat to anybody at the White House."

The residence was placed under lockdown for a time before dawn Monday, and it was surrounded by police, fire, and other emergency vehicles. More than a dozen secret service agents reportedly fanned out on a snowy morning searching the lawn and landscaping for any other device. None was found.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.secretservice.gov