We have gone through numerous pages of folks claiming this was a fake drone that was deliberately landed in Iran just to make that country look silly. We are now claiming the thing is real but it had a 'technical' malfunction and simply glided down to earth and somehow landed intact!!
I TOTALLY accept technical items of any type be they in a computer, car, tank, refrigerator or aircraft will always at some time fail to operate correctly b ut in this specific case, I just do not buy that excuse.
How long do we want the list of US military equipment having 'technical' issues that have caused them to crash or be destroyed?? My befuddled memory tells me that the last case of a 'technical' issue comparable to this was the helicopter that 'could not take off' after it developed 'technical' issues in the compound at the home of Bin Laden. Before that I can recall an Apache aircraft that was allegedly shot down over Iraq by a very old farmer with an antiquated rifle. The US claimed the thing had been forced to land because of 'technical' issues and the aircraft had subsequently been destroyed by an F-15E. The problem with that claim was that those of us with satellite TV saw this same helicopter on the back of a low loader being driven into an embassy compound in Baghdad!!
My thoughts are still that the US has been 'outsmarted' and they are now paying the price. My personal observations are that.... 'Please may I have my ball back' is unlikely to wash unless the USA makes Iran an offer they CANNOT refuse.