Bob Lutz was enjoying retirement like all the 78-year-olds out there, flying one of his decommissioned military fighter jets over rural Michigan, when a local thought the jet went down. It didn't, but it did cause local authorities to panic.
An eyewitness outside of Metro Detroit witnessed what he believed to be a military jet struggling and going down and notified authorities of a crash. Several volunteer emergency response crews responded to the call, later determining, with the help of an aerial search, that a crash had not occurred.
Lutz took off from Willow Run airport in his jet around the same time, and was known to be flying in the area. Because there's been no positive identification of Lutz and/or his plane, and because there was no crash in the first place, Bob will not be billed for the expensive response. (Thanks for the tip, Ryan!) [Livingston Daily]