Sep 24, 2008 1:05 PM

U.S. Denies Drone Down - Never Mind the Video (Updated)

This much we know: an American-made Predator spy drone has gone down in Pakistan. But what’s the still unclear is how that drone was knocked out of the sky, and who really operated the unmanned plane. In recent months, the U.S. military has stepped up its use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, to hunt […]

This much we know: an American-made Predator spy drone has gone down in Pakistan. But what's the still unclear is how that drone was knocked out of the sky, and who really operated the unmanned plane.

In recent months, the U.S. military has stepped up its use of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, to hunt and take out suspected militants in Pakistan. During a week in early September, American drone strikes in Pakistan killed more than 50 people. Pakistani reaction has ranged from muted to outraged. But in this new UAV offensive, not a single drone has gone down. Until now, perhaps.

At first, the Associated Press reported that "Pakistani soldiers and tribesman shot down a suspected U.S. military drone close to the Afghan border Tuesday night." Later, ABC News heard from a "local resident and Pakistani intelligence officials" who said that "a vigilante force of tribal locals fired on the drone as it flew above Angoor Adda, located in South Waziristan -- a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden."

The United States challenged both accounts, however. "We're not aware of any drones being down," a senior American official told the AP.

It's an odd reaction, despite the obvious diplomatic sensitivities. American officials have confirmed drone crashes in Pakistan before. Stranger still, Pakistani television ran footage today of wreckage bearing the insignia of "Aeronautical Systems." That's the name American defense contractor General Atomics -- the company behind the Predator UAV -- used to employ for its drone-making division. [UPDATED: One of the images shows a piece of wreckage marked "on-board starter unit." Its part number matches the number for the Predator's "on-board starter unit" in a logistics database.]

So could the drone be some other country's robo-plane? It's an outside possibility. The United Kingdom's military operates UAVs, and is fighting in neighboring Afghanistan. Pakistan has its own fleet of pilotless aircraft, some of which occasionally crash. India also has UAVs, and they have been shot down over Pakistan.

A spokesperson for General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc., as the drone-building company is now known, would only confirm sales of its UAVs to countries like Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Italy. The firm also has "classified sales that we do not discuss." Is Pakistan on the list? The spokesperson won't say, either way: "That is not a foreign sale we've talked about."

[Image: Aaj TV; digger: Nemo]

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