Aviation archeology is one of my many hobbies. It's a way for me to literally touch history. That doesn't mean I spend all my time in the field. Frequently my most important work is done in the library. In the spring of 1997,I spent a lot of time collecting information for a database of airplane accidents that occurred in the vicinity of California's Edwards Air Force Base. While researching in the periodicals section of the California State University library in Northridge, I stumbled across one aviation incident I had never heard of. The Los Angeles Times headline read, "208 Rockets Fired at Runaway Plane." A subhead continued, "Missiles Spray Southland Area in Effort to Halt Wild Drone." The story described terrified residents, property damage, and forest fires, all stemming from jet crews firing rockets at a wide area of northern Los Angeles County in an attempt to shoot down a runaway Navy drone airplane.
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