A man eluded security at Joint Base Andrews last month -- where U.S. President Joe Biden's plane is kept -- and went undetected for several hours until his quirky "mouse ears" headgear blew his cover, Yahoo News reported Saturday, citing Business Insider and other news outlets.
The apparent aimless intruder in the rare security breach was wearing what an Air Force investigative report described as "a bright red or pink cap that partially covered his ears and had distinctive balls on top that looked a little like mouse ears," according to the Associated Press.
An Air Force official said in a report on the Feb. 4 incident that the base intruder was unarmed and made his way onto a C-40 transport aircraft on the tarmac, but did not get close to Air Force One or the Defense secretary's Boeing 747s.
One of the base employees saw the intruder on the flight line and was suspicious of the man partly because of the cap he was wearing and notified security, AP said. The Air Force report blamed the unusual security failure on "human error."
"To be honest, we had no idea we had an unauthorized civilian on the base. He could have roamed around for a lot longer had it not been for that particular airman that figured out he doesn't quite fit," AP quoted Sami Said, Air Force inspector general, as saying during a press conference.
The inspector general faulted a guard at the base's main gate who let the man through despite his lack of valid identifications.
During questioning, the man said he came on the base because he "wanted to see airplanes," according to The Telegraph.
The report concluded that the man -- a 36-year-old from Maryland whose identity is being withheld -- was homeless, lived in his car, and despite an arrest record showed no intent to cause any harm.
It was not determined if he will face charges.
