Cop calls backup for ‘Drone’ who follows her only to find out it’s planet Jupiter

A junior police officer in Glasgow, Scotland, was recently embarrassed to discover that the “drone” she thought was chasing her on her way to a shopping mall was in fact just the planet Jupiter. Local media report that the embarrassing confusion has become the topic of conversation at his station.

The daily record reported on Saturday that the officer left her post around midnight Tuesday when she first saw the bright light she believed to be a drone. She attempted to “lose the drone” by going to a local shopping center; however, she failed. Frightened, she finally called the Scottish Police General Complaints Number to report that she was being followed by a drone and “couldn’t lose it”.

The operator working on the complaints line told the agent to return to her post where she could meet with a senior officer. So she did as she was told.

According to the police via Daily check-in, when she arrived at her station, “she was found standing in the police yard with her hood up trying to hide from the ‘drone’ and pointed to the bright white dot in the sky.” When the senior officer looked up at the light, they realized that the drone she had been afraid of was in fact only Jupiter.

EarthSky claims that Jupiter and Saturn are “almost at their best this month.” This is because the planets will both reach opposition in August.

Sky at Night Magazine reports that Jupiter will reach opposition on August 19. “The opposition,” the magazine explains, “describes when a planet or other body is in the opposite part of the sky to the Sun”. Meanwhile, a planet is closest to Earth, making it appear much larger and much brighter than usual.

As Jupiter moves towards the opposition, those in the northern hemisphere can see it clearly from evening until dawn, as this officer did in Glasgow.

According to Daily check-in, the officer’s error is the station’s “speech”. “Nobody can really believe it,” an anonymous police source told the outlet. “She was very alarmed and afraid to be followed by a drone.”

The source continued to say the officer was “embarrassed” when told that the “drone” was simply a planet. Apparently, those at his station are “concerned”.

“It will haunt her for years to come,” they said.

Local reports did not name the officer.