#11: Battle of Palmdale – Cold War
In 1956, a runaway U.S. Navy drone went out of control over California. Air Force pilots were sent to shoot it down, but their rockets missed the drone and hit parts of the ground below, damaging property and starting brush fires.
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The drone eventually crashed on its own without injuring anyone. The incident became a strange example of friendly fire on home soil, where the only casualties were buildings and landscape. It also highlighted how early missile technology struggled with small and fast moving targets.