The Grumman F6F Hellcat was used in many dogfights in World war II, but afterward was considered obsolete. The US Navy made use of them, as drones to serve as targets for testing new battle aircraft and weapons. On August 16, 1956, a Hellcat equipped to be controlled by radio launched for just such a test. But the drone took matters into its own hands, or wings, and stopped responding to the RC pilot's commands. Instead of heading out to sea, it circled back to Southern California. The Air Force dispatched two pilots in F-89D Scorpions loaded with missiles to shoot it down. Their equipment, while thoroughly modern, did not cooperate either, and one failure led to another. It was a comedy of errors in the sky, but on the ground below, residents of Palmdale and Santa Clarita were dodging missiles.
The drone managed to avoid all 204 missiles fired at it, but was eventually brought down. The missiles on the ground started fires that burned hundreds of acres and involved around a thousand firefighters. It was only luck and coincidence that no one was killed. Read about the drone that embarrassed both the US Navy and the Air Force at Amusing Planet.
(Image credit: US Navy)