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Spurious Drones Buzzing Around Spanish Royal Palace

Posted by samzenpus on from the night-fliers dept.

jones_supa writes: A series of unmanned aircraft have been spotted in the restricted airspace above the residence of Spain's royal family. Staff at the Zarzuela Palace has reported seeing the drones flying over several nights, promoting concerns from the Royal Guard, the security force in charge of protecting Spain's royal family. The aircraft have been spotted in restricted airspace over the Palace where King Felipe and Queen Letizia live with their two daughters. The Royal Guard has not yet been able to identify the drones' controllers or their motivation. The timing of these flights consistently occurs after dark.

49 comments

  1. "Spurious"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't think that's the word you were looking for. Were you going for "suspicious"?

    1. Re:"Spurious"? by BlindRobin · · Score: 1

      I wish I could mod you up, it they were spurious they wouldn't be actual drones and by definition unable to fly around doing drone stuff.

    2. Re:"Spurious"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They aren't, they're just there to annoy the royal family. They only look like drones but are actually just arbiters of the apocalypse.

    3. Re:"Spurious"? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe they were just trying to say "some bastard's flying drones around the palace".

    4. Re:"Spurious"? by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      Or "curious."

      Either would make a lot more sense the spurious.

  2. A perfect opportunity ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ... for target practice!

  3. Target practice? by whoever57 · · Score: 1

    Sounds like time for some skeet (clay pigeon) shooting practice, but with self-propelled targets.

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    1. Re:Target practice? by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      shooting practice

      At night? The only option real option here is to ignore them.

      If the Royals are doing things that piss people off and thus live in fear of them, then perhaps they should stop doing those things.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:Target practice? by nospam007 · · Score: 2

      "Sounds like time for some skeet (clay pigeon) shooting practice, but with self-propelled targets."

      The Spanish royal family is more known for shooting slow moving elephants, which are much easier to hit.

    3. Re:Target practice? by Golden_Rider · · Score: 2

      shooting practice

      At night? The only option real option here is to ignore them.

      If the Royals are doing things that piss people off and thus live in fear of them, then perhaps they should stop doing those things.

      I think it is not so much about "doing things that piss people off", but instead more about not wanting to find photographs/videos on the internet of themselves undressing before taking a shower/going to bed.

    4. Re:Target practice? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If the Royals are doing things that piss people off and thus live in fear of them, then perhaps they should stop doing those things.

      Would you have provided that same advice to Charlie Hebdo? Sometimes it's the people who are pissed off that are in the wrong.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    5. Re:Target practice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At night? The only option real option here is to ignore them.

      I see this as an opportunity for the King of Spain to don some night-vision goggles and show his country that he's more of a badass shotgun-toting drone-hunter than his father was an elephant hunter.

    6. Re:Target practice? by cascadingstylesheet · · Score: 1

      If the Royals are doing things that piss people off and thus live in fear of them, then perhaps they should stop doing those things.

      Would you have provided that same advice to Charlie Hebdo? Sometimes it's the people who are pissed off that are in the wrong.

      Thank you ... that should be obvious to any sentient being, but apparently isn't.

    7. Re:Target practice? by NicBenjamin · · Score: 1

      Night sights work fine.

      If the Spanish military can't take a drone down at night I'm sure Obama'd be happy to lend them something that can.

    8. Re:Target practice? by cold+fjord · · Score: 1

      At night? The only option real option here is to ignore them.

      Or use night vision devices, or counter-air drones with sensors. You're a few options short.

      If the Royals are doing things that piss people off and thus live in fear of them, then perhaps they should stop doing those things.

      Naturally you don't consider Basque separatists or Islamist terrorists, both of which have a history of terrorist attacks in Spain.

      --
      much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
    9. Re:Target practice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do you counter drones with sensors? Are you going to measure them until they explode?

    10. Re:Target practice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If the drone operators are Muslim, you can bet that he won't.

    11. Re:Target practice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hint: the sensors are used for targeting. The problem isn't really weapons, it is seeing in the dark. :P

    12. Re:Target practice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know that the tool is the right one, but one part of this is spot on... drones are slow and fragile.

  4. Two words.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Net Gun.

    1. Re:Two words.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then fingerprint/DNA testing.

  5. Nobody Expects... by trabby · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Spanish Drone Inquisition!

  6. "The Spurious Drones" by ZecretZquirrel · · Score: 3, Funny

    Will now finally have to start that band.

    1. Re:"The Spurious Drones" by kencurry · · Score: 1

      Will now finally have to start that band.

      I want in ... can play guitar and piano. lemme know

      --
      sigs are for losers (except to point out that sigs are for losers)
    2. Re:"The Spurious Drones" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All in the band must play the skinflute. Execs like it when you get your "private casting couch audition"!

    3. Re:"The Spurious Drones" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's not what "spurious" means....

      adjective
      1.not genuine, authentic, or true; not from the claimed, pretended, or proper source; counterfeit.
      2.Biology. (of two or more parts, plants, etc.) having a similar appearance but a different structure.
      3.of illegitimate birth; bastard.

  7. Paparazzi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Paparazzi would be the most obvious culprits. It's easy to mount a camera to a drone.

  8. Word choice by hattable · · Score: 1

    Now that we've diluted the meaning of drone, in just reading the summary--or what a news soundbite would be in traditional media--I'm not sure if we should be worried about some youtube name releasing neat footage of night shots of the spanish palace or if we should start preparing for news to come of some form of state sponsored attack against the royal family.

    --
    OMG facts!
    1. Re:Word choice by CaptQuark · · Score: 1

      Correct. It is not a DRONE!!! It is a cheap RC quadcopter! And if they were really worried about it, it isn't that hard to find the RF source of the control signal, even with spread spectrum signals.

      --

  9. Paparazzi looking for Royal Nudes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At night, from the windows. They are hoping to get those 10k-20k EUR shots.

  10. I have an idea by slashmydots · · Score: 1

    What are they, stupid? One of them has to land eventually. Follow them.

    1. Re:I have an idea by misexistentialist · · Score: 1

      Also hardly shocking that someone might be interested in shooting video of a flashy landmark. If they are so worried about the royal family's safety maybe they should move them to an average home, or better yet depose them and convert the palace to public toilets.

    2. Re:I have an idea by slashmydots · · Score: 1

      Naw man, water park!

    3. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How would an ordinary home be more secure?

    4. Re: I have an idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow. It's as if you didn't read the parent post -- at all.

      An ordinary home is not more secure, just much less interesting.

  11. Drone possession by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 1

    this is an obvious case of drone possession! they should really call Talley and exorcise the evil spirit from this poor drone.

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  12. Possibly paparazzi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Check the tabloids for aerial photos...

  13. Thanks for the info by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So I can just freely go buzzing with a drone over the Spanish Royal Palace and would not meet any kind of resistance?

    Sweet, I'll prepare my gear and join the next night's gathering.

  14. They should put one of these in their property... by cheesybagel · · Score: 1

    ...to fix the drone problem.
    http://gizmodo.com/5955042/sou...

    It might require some software changes though.

  15. my guess by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think one of the two daughters is the pilot. Did the Royal Guard unwrap all the Christmas gifts?

  16. Probe Droids by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxG5BgkfvP8

  17. That's unfair... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The only Spanish royal who famously shot an elephant has an even more famous shooting to his name. After all, no-one can remember what the elephant was called, but his brother Alonso has a Wikipedia page.

  18. let's just hope it isn't a repeat of this... by slew · · Score: 1

    http://tech.slashdot.org/story...

  19. EMP by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 2

    Is there seriously no EMP-style weapons for these increasingly hostile machines? As in the case of them interfering with fire-fighting planes resulting in the insane scene on Highway 15 in Nevada over the weekend, I've have less and less regard for the dronebros who place their footage above others lives. A nice, devastating EMP burst (where you only have to get close) is what they so richly deserve.

    1. Re:EMP by fredrated · · Score: 1

      We need a kickstarter campaign to create an emp gun that will bring down drones. I would contribute.

    2. Re:EMP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've got a 10 Bore that'll probably do the job !

  20. Ya know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is one of those activities that is probably 98% (or better), thoughtless activity by people running their "kewl" drones and seeing what they can do.

    And then there's a residual of 2% that might be malevolent. Which is the stuff to really worry about.