Lawrence Berkely Lab Security Breached by a Remote Control Plane

Oct. 13--Not even the bucolic Berkeley hills are immune to security concerns in a post-Sept. 11, 2001, world, as the editor in chief of Wired magazine has discovered.

Chris Anderson, a 45-year-old Berkeley resident and aerial-reconnaissance enthusiast, sparked a minor security scare Sunday when his remote-controlled plane -- equipped with a camera -- crashed into a tree at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

Security personnel apparently didn't notice the plane until Anderson asked for help retrieving it, but they've since paid attention.

UC Berkeley police are investigating and federal authorities may be notified about the breach at the hillside lab, which is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy and managed by the university. Unlike UC-managed labs at Livermore and Los Alamos, Berkeley is not involved with nuclear weapons and does not conduct classified research.

It does have important equipment that needs to be protected, said Dan Lunsford, who manages lab security.

"I think, post-9/11, when we see an event that is out of the ordinary, those are things that gain our interest," Lunsford said. "The greatest thing right now in the war on terrorism is prevention."

Anderson, who lives within walking distance of the lab, does not appear to have broken any laws, Lunsford said.