Benedictine Monk Relaxing Atop Wind Turbine Spotted by Drone

A Benedictine monk at a private Rhode Island school has discovered that finding solitude is no easy feat, even 175 feet in the air.

A drone camera took video of Brother Joseph Byron hanging out on top of a wind turbine at the Portsmouth Abbey School, a private catholic boarding school.

That video has now gone viral.

Brother Byron said he went up on top of the turbine to relax during a heatwave on Aug. 16.

That's when he got quite the surprise.

"It's beautiful up there, absolutely gorgeous," he said. "You never know what's hovering around."

Brother Byron said he's the de facto keeper of turbine, which has been there for 10 years. He said the blades only turn with wind at 12 miles per hour, and that day, there wasn't any wind, so he climbed up.

He said he's not afraid of heights.

"The next thing I heard was the buzzing," he said. "And at first, I was kind of - I had never seen one before so, that's kind of cool."

The drone, which the Daily Mail reported was remotely operated by a visiting tourist from California, hovered for a bit and went away, only to come back.

He later noticed the video was published.

Byron tells the Providence Journal he's never seen a drone before and wasn't thrilled by the encounter. He added that, because of all the attention he's getting, he's going to wait a little while before going back on the turbine again.

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