A rogue drone struck a giant Ferris wheel and crashed through a plastic patio table in downtown Seattle on Wednesday, police and employees said.
Seattle Great Wheel security workers reported the bizarre collision to police around 4:45 p.m. local time, police spokesman Mark Jamieson told The Seattle Times. Authorities confiscated the aircraft, and they're looking for the owner.
"At this point, we don't know who was operating it," Jamieson told the newspaper. "No one came forward while we were investigating. Security didn't have any information when we were there."
No injuries were reported, according to the newspaper.
"I can't figure out why somebody would fly a drone so close to other human beings," Michael Fuqua, who works at the Great Wheel, told NBC affiliate KING5. "I don't get it. I just don't understand it."
Fuqua told the station he heard the crash, which he described as a loud "thud." Great Wheel security manager Wayman Earls III said he saw the whole incident unfold.
"Just thank goodness no one was on the deck and no one was hurt," Earls told KING5. "It looked like they (the drone's operator) may have been trying to fly the drone through the spokes (of the Ferris wheel) and careened off of there. From that height, anything it landed on was going to have some damage."
The patio where the aircraft landed was closed, and the ride was inspected for damage. It re-opened a short time later, according to the station.
