http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/inside-googles-secret-drone-delivery-program/379306/

A man named Neil Parfitt is standing in a field on a cattle ranch
outside Warwick, Australia. A white vehicle appears above the trees, a tiny
plane a bit bigger than a seagull. It glides towards Parfitt, pitches upwards to
a vertical position, and hovers near him, a couple hundred feet in the air. From
its belly, a package comes tumbling downward, connected by a thin line to the
vehicle itself. Right before the delivery hits the ground, it slows, hitting the
earth with a tap. The delivery slows, almost imperceptibly, just before it hits
the ground, hardly kicking up any dust. A small rectangular module on the end of
the line detaches the payload, and ascends back up the vehicle, locking into
place beneath the nose. As the wing returns to flying posture and zips back to
its launch point half a mile away, Parfitt walks over to the package, opens it
up, and extracts some treats for his dogs.

The Australian test flight and 30 others like it conducted in mid-August are the
culmination of the first phase of Project Wing, a secret drone program that’s
been running for two years at Google X, the company’s whoa-inducing, long-range
research lab.