Rogue Reaper Radically Retired

You know how people joke that these drone planes are going to rebel and take over the world? It's funny and everything, but everyone knows how ridiculous that idea is. After all, the drones aren't automated; they're controlled remotely by pilots in Nevada.

Except that an MQ-9 Reaper drone just threw off the shackles of human control and made a run for the northern border of Afghanistan. Not trusting the drones, apparently, the Air Force launched a manned fighter to hunt down and execute the Reaper like a mad dog.

Is this all there is to the story? One rogue Reaper? Aviation Week reports that another drone mysteriously crashed in Nevada on September 11. Attempting to kill its human pilot on the ground? We may never know the truth.

***Update***

Demonstrating that there's no such thing as too much hubris, Lockheed Martin has announced plans to develop a stealth drone, so that manned aircraft won't be able to hunt it down in the event that it decides to go renegade, I guess.