Space Needle Visitors Come Face-To-Face With Drone

A drone flying close to Seattle’s Space Needle has many wondering who was at the controls, and why. INSIDE EDITION has the story.

A drone flew dangerously close to the Seattle Space Needle and in the video you can even see tourists waving at the flying machine.

Security guards called 911 reporting that the drone had actually crashed into the world famous landmark.

Cops traced the drone to a fifth-floor room in a Best Western Hotel two blocks away.

The drone operator was Alex Klinghoffer of Dallas and get this: He is a sales executive at Amazon, which has its headquarters in Seattle.

You may recall Amazon founder Jeff Bezos revealing on 60 Minutes last December that the Internet retail giant wants to make deliveries by drone. Amazon made a formal application to the FAA just a couple of weeks ago.  

Jeff Bezos said on 60 Minutes, "It will work, and it will happen, and it's going to be a lot of fun."

So, was the drone flight an Amazon stunt? 

Seattle police tweeted tongue in cheek: "Space Needle still standing after reported drone strike... But still waiting for our @amazon package to arrive."

This was the latest drone incident to make the news.

Lisa Pleiss, who also works for Amazon, photographed a drone hovering right outside her high-rise apartment window.  She thought it was spying on her, but it turned out the drone is owned by a professional photographer hired to shoot video for a real estate developer.

A crowd of revels actually brought down a drone hovering over celebrations of the L.A. Kings Stanley Cup victory.

But the Seattle drone operator is grounded for now. Police made him promise not to fly his drone during the rest of his stay in Seattle.