Canadian, 71, charged with aerial photography of defence site in U.S.

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A 71-year-old Canadian man has been charged after allegedly flying a drone and taking aerial photography at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Base, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Middle District of Florida.

Xiao Guang Pan faces three counts of “use of an aircraft for the unlawful photographing of defense installations without authorization,” per the criminal information filed on Feb. 11, obtained by the National Post. The charge stemmed from Pan allegedly flying the “unmanned aircraft” on Jan. 5, Jan. 6 and Jan. 7.

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A criminal information is “a formal charge that a defendant has committed one or more violations of federal criminal law, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless, and until, proven guilty,” the attorney’s office said in a news release.

The filing alleges that Pan took photos of Space Launch complexes, a payload processing facility, a submarine wharf and munitions bunkers. Without authorization, it is prohibited under federal law to do so.

Pan entered the United States on a tourist visa, according to a motion filed on Feb. 13. He is not being detained and he has not yet been appointed counsel.

Pan could face a maximum penalty of one year in federal prison for each count, if convicted, per the news release.

He is scheduled to be in court for an arraignment next week, on Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. ET, according to the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida.

A man with the same name as Pan is featured on Brampton Arts Organization (BAO) webpage as an artist. In a statement to the National Post, the group said it became “aware of this matter after being contacted by the media.”

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“Xiaoguang Pan submitted photos he had taken of Brampton for a call for artwork that we put out at the beginning of last year to celebrate the 50th birthday of the City of Brampton,” the statement said. “For this exhibition, known as the PIXEL: Chapter 50 Digital Art Exhibition, we selected 50 artworks by 50 different Brampton artists.”

Pan was one of the artists selected. The last time BAO had any contact with Pan was “early last year when he was notified that his aerial photograph had been accepted” for the exhibition.

“The information on our website about Mr. Pan is what he provided to BAO and we have no further knowledge about him or his art practice. BAO has no further comment on this situation,” the statement concluded.

Per the biography that he provided to BAO, Pan has been a Brampton resident since 2003. He said he considers drone photography and videography to be a “a pleasure both to view this beautiful city at a quite different angle and to share such beauty with all of Brampton’s people.”

He was born in China in 1953 and immigrated to Canada in 2001, according to his biography. He worked for Best Buy for 18 years until he retired in 2022. He said he has travelled to almost every American state, 10 countries in Europe, New Zealand and Australia, and has been to nearly all of Canada’s famous scenic locations.

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A spokeswoman from the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed to Global News that Pan resides in Brampton, Ont.

A person with the same name as Pan runs an Instagram account dedicated to aerial photography. In its bio, it says “Licensed Drone Pilot.” The latest video posted on the account is dated Dec. 5, 2024. It shows a photo of a building in Florida.

This case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Air Marshals Service, the NASA Office of Inspector General, and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

The U.S. Department of Defense said there are more than 1 million drones lawfully registered in the country, in a December news release about reported drone sightings. “There are thousands of commercial, hobbyist and law enforcement drones lawfully in the sky on any given day,” per the release.

The FBI received tips of more than 5,000 reported drone sightings in the last few weeks of December, generating approximately 100 leads, the release said.

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After investigating the matters using technology and visual observers, the department said there were no risks to civilians. It noted a “limited number of visual sightings of drones over military facilities in New Jersey and elsewhere, including within restricted air space.”

The department said it “takes unauthorized access over its airspace seriously and coordinates closely with federal, state, and local law enforcement authorities, as appropriate.”

The issue was addressed at a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Feb. 13.

Air Force Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of the United States Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command said, in a written statement, that “small drones have emerged as a significant risk to infrastructure and safety in the United States in a relatively short period of time.”

“The widespread availability of small drones, coupled with a complicated regulatory structure and limitations on (unmanned aircraft systems) UAS countermeasures based on concerns for flight safety and privacy, has created significant vulnerabilities that have been exploited by known and unknown actors,” he said.

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Equipment and analytic tools are being used to help detect, track, and mitigate potential threats.

“There were 350 detections reported last year on military installations, and that was 350 over a total of 100 different installations of all types and levels of security,” Guillot said at the hearing.

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