MERRIMAC, Mass. — For a few frantic hours Monday afternoon, a state police helicopter and police on the ground searched for what was reported as a downed ultralight airplane in the woods off Interstate 495 in Merrimac, a small town in northern Massachusetts.

But by dinner time, the search was called off as it was determined the passenger craft was actually a large, radio-controlled model airplane.

Police are now trying to figure out where the plane came from.

The strange incident began around 3:10 p.m., when police received a 911 call from a woman who stated that as she was heading south on I-495, between exits 53 and 54, she observed an airplane “fall from the sky into the woods.”

Police responded to the wooded area immediately, and police fire departments from nearby towns were also notified of the search. State police Air Wing was also called in to aid the investigation.

Scanner chatter drew attention to the search, and then word spread widely across Twitter within minutes after the state police tweeted the breaking news around 4 p.m., reporting they were investigating what a witness had thought was a small plane crash in the woods.

By 6 p.m., police received word that a firefighter had seen a similar-sized, radio-controlled aircraft flying in the same vicinity. With that information, the search was called off. 

Police are investigating whether the radio-controlled plane originated from one of the area’s fields that support such craft. One field is used by the Cape Ann RC Model Club, which focuses on radio-controlled aircraft, including glow plug-powered, electric, soaring helicopters and other kinds of small craft.