A decade after the end of World War II, US fighter planes were scrambled to protect the city of Los Angeles from an unexpected aerial threat. Nearby residents would soon run for cover as rockets rained down on American soil. The threat wasn’t from Soviet intruders. And the pilots did not succeed in their mission. It’s now known by some as the Battle of Palmdale.

This is what happened that Thursday morning exactly 60 years ago – and why the danger is still with us six decades on.

At 11.34am on Thursday 16 August 1956, a special aircraft was launched from a naval air station in California. It was a Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter plane, but refitted as an unmanned vehicle – a drone. Painted bright red, it was about to be used as a target during a missile test. It would take off and fly at a leisurely pace over the Pacific Ocean before being blown to smithereens. At least, that was the plan.