The French Presidential palace confirmed on Tuesday that an alert was sparked at the Elysée Palace after a drone was seen flying over the building.
During the night of Thursday into Friday, a drone was seen flying over the palace for a matter of seconds, prompting alarm among security teams, the palace confirmed on Tuesday.
“It was immediately spotted” by police and the Gendarmerie services who guard the palace.
Sources at the palace told BFM TV the flying object was “immediately removed” and an “investigation is underway”.
At a time of heightened vigilance after the Paris terror attacks the presence of the drone is being taken seriously by authorities.
According to a judicial source the Paris prosecutor has in fact opened an investigation into “the flying of an aircraft in breach of security rules”.
But French author and air safety expert Christophe Naudin told The Local he believes it was operated by someone hoping to get some exclusive photos, but terrorists may use drones in the future.
“There’s no doubt this poses problems around security. One day drones will not just be used to take photos of François Hollande and his beautiful girlfriend Julie Gayet,” Naudin said. “One day they will be used for something more dangerous”.
“Currently drones are not developed enough to be able to carry something like a grenade or a bomb but in the years to come they will be. At the moment terrorists don’t have the training to be able to use them, but that won’t always be the case.”
Source: The Local