This $400,000 Item From the Gov't Accidentally Arrived at His Doorstep — Here's How He Says UPS Responded

How do you call in and explain this one to UPS?

Hey there — I think you just delivered a secret government drone to my house, and it definitely isn't mine.

Unexpected mail can cause stress, especially when it comes in the form of a random government drone. (Image source: Imgur)

Reddit user Seventy_Seven says he tried to do just that when he received a mysterious package that looked a lot more like a drone than the weight set he'd ordered for his new home gym.

Unfortunately, simply sticking a "return to sender" note on this package probably wouldn't have been the best bet.

"Did I just get a drone in the mail?" Reddit user Seventy_Seven asked online. (Image source: Imgur)

When the man opened the unexpected package, he said, he tried to figure out the mystery by contacting UPS, but the man on the other line insisted the package was his to deal with.

"The UPS guy on the phone had said that this had been in storage, and was something that had been lost in transit, or in some other way went undelivered," the Reddit user posted. "He kept saying that it was mine, and something that was intended to be delivered to me, but didn't make it originally."

A Reddit user shared his strange "lost in the mail" experience with the Internet. (Image source: Imgur)

The package did come with a yellow note indicating who the potential the rightful owner is, but before reaching out to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the man posted pictures of his unique delivery online — and then panic set in.

"Due to the apparent severity of this, I called the number in between classes. I got their voicemail. I'm getting a swarm of messages from people who claim they are in the industry, work at UPS, work for the NOAA, etc, but I don't think I can trust any of these random contacts," he said in a Reddit update to his original post.

He added: "I'm still alive and well, and if you haven't read already, it's not military. Regardless, it's not mine, and I'll be sending it to its owner unless I'm told to keep it ... Here's hoping I survive until tomorrow."

A NOAA representative told TheBlaze they "are aware of this" and are in contact with the man to recover their PUMA Unmanned Aircraft System, which is used for surveying marine wildlife, and which Gizmodo estimates costs around $400,000.

"NOAA's aircraft center shipped one PUMA unmanned aircraft system in eight separate boxes to NOAA's Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary in Massachusetts for use in environmental research," David Miller, NOAA's director of digital media said in an email. "It seems UPS delivered one of the eight boxes to the wrong address, a box containing only the wings and a control device. We are in touch with the person that received the package and are working with UPS to get components to its destination."

Check out the drone in action, below. You can even see the same kind of controller (pictured above) being used to guide the aircraft at 1:14.

(H/T: Gizmodo)

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