Fishing Charter Found U.S. Military Drone In FL Waters

PENSACOLA, FL — A Pensacola fishing charter made an unexpected catch while on the water on Saturday: a U.S. military drone.

The drone, found by Hot Spots Charters, is believed to be a clone of the Iranian-designed Shahed-136, CNN reported.

“Great 6-hour today with this crew! If anyone is looking for their drone please call Hot Spots,” Captain Daniel Arsenault said in a social media post by Hot Spots around 3:30 p.m.

The drone was picked up quickly by authorities.

A comment on the post made by the charter company just two hours later read, “The black SUVS came and got their drone, all is good.”

The drone was found in waters not far from Eglin Air Force Base, home of the U.S. Air Force's 96th Test Wing, the largest test and evaluation wing in the Air Force. It’s responsible for conducting developmental tests and evaluations for air-delivered weapons, navigation systems, and cyber capabilities, according to the base’s website.

A spokesperson for Eglin AFB told defense news site The War Zone that it recently lost a drone that went down during testing, but wouldn’t confirm it was the same drone as the one found by Hot Spots.

Aresnault told CNN that he spotted the drone floating while “riding along offshore.”

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