A billion dollar blimp ran away

[Vespasia]

I can see these from my house and work. I've actually meant to post about them before. Now one has broken free and is currently drifting over PA.


www.wbaltv.com/news/jlens-blimp-breaks-free-of-tether-in-aberdeen/36097348

One of the two blimps that has been floating over Aberdeen has come off its tether, Aberdeen Proving Ground officials confirms.

Installation officials said the break occurred around 11:54 a.m.

The Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Netted Sensor System (JLENS) blimps are part of a new cruise-missile defense system the U.S. military is testing. Emergency personnel are tracking the blimp which was moving toward Pennsylvania.

The system features two unmanned, helium-filled aerostats, tethered to concrete pads four miles apart. They float at an altitude of 10,000 feet in a planned, three-year test. One uses radar to continuously scan in a 340-mile radius, roughly from Norfolk, Va. to upstate New York. The other carries precision radar enabling controllers on the ground to pinpoint targets.

Military officials said anyone who sees the blimp is asked to contact 911 immediately. People are warned to keep a safe distance from the airship and tether as contact with them may present significant danger.

[ttt]

Um what?? Is this for real?

[Vespasia]

Oct 28, 2015 13:01:22 GMT -5 ttt said:

Um what?? Is this for real?

Yes, it was confirmed by the military base where they were located. It's crazy! 

[Scout'sHonor]

Are there any small children in them?

[tacokick]

It was only a matter of time, right?

[terpsfan]

They look like huge goldfish crackers to me IRL

[iammalcolmx]

Oct 28, 2015 13:04:18 GMT -5 Scout'sHonor said:

Are there any small children in them?

----------------------------->

[sparrowsong]

Oct 28, 2015 13:04:18 GMT -5 Scout'sHonor said:

Are there any small children in them?

I totally thought that too. That was some good stuff, the day balloon boy happened and all the aftermath. Ha!

[iammalcolmx]

Military officials said anyone who sees the blimp is asked to contact 911 immediately.

I don't know why this is making me LOL so much.

[MarmeeNoir]

Bye Felicia kills me. I don't think it'll get old for me.

[WanderingWinoZ]

www.chron.com/news/politics/article/Fighter-jets-track-military-blimp-drifting-over-6596053.php


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon said Wednesday that U.S. fighter jets were tracking an unmanned Army surveillance blimp that tore loose from its ground tether in Maryland and drifted north over Pennsylvania.
Details were sketchy, but a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command in Colorado said the blimp detached from its station at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, at about 12:20 p.m. EDT.
Two F-16 fighter jets from the Atlantic City Air National Guard Base in New Jersey were monitoring the craft, which was traveling north at an altitude of about 16,000 feet.
FAA officials were working with the military to ensure air traffic safety in the area.
The aircraft is known as a Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System and can be used as part of a missile defense system.
It was not immediately clear how the blimp came loose.

[FloFTW]

Uuuuuuh. How do you bring it down? Shoot it with a bow and arrow?

[josieposy]

Help is on the way!

[msmerymac]

[downtoearth]

I just keep wondering how it got away... floating at 10,000 feet means it's been there awhile. Did they not have a safety/second leash just in case? Did somebody mess up when checking on it or something fly through the line breaking it?

[pixy0stix]

The "I want to believe" picture just about did me in.

[IIOY]

Oct 28, 2015 14:04:41 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

I just keep wondering how it got away... floating at 10,000 feet means it's been there awhile. Did they not have a safety/second leash just in case? Did somebody mess up when checking on it or something fly through the line breaking it?

The military hadn't wasted a billion dollars in at least 24 hours so someone cut it loose.

[Vespasia]

The tether hit some power lines in PA, it's down. I read that 20K people are without power. 

[Vespasia]

Of course it has a twitter account: twitter.com/AberdeenBlimp

[ttt]

Oct 28, 2015 14:49:58 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

Of course it has a twitter account: twitter.com/AberdeenBlimp

Sometimes I feel grateful to live in 2015 because of equal rights for women, clean water, and medical advances, but really I'm most grateful for the internet. 

[msmerymac]

OMG, I know someone whose power is out because of this.

Really, this doesn't seem like something that should be happening in 2015.

[msmerymac]

Oct 28, 2015 14:49:58 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

Of course it has a twitter account: twitter.com/AberdeenBlimp

The best part is that the twitter account existed long before today. How excited do you think the person running the account was when this happened?

[mbcdefg]

My Simpsons Trivia FB group is having a field day with this story.

[redheadbaker]

Oct 28, 2015 13:56:55 GMT -5 josieposy said:

Help is on the way!

I don't know why, but I read this in Mrs. Doubtfire's voice.

[partiallysunny]

Oct 28, 2015 14:36:31 GMT -5 IIOY said:

Oct 28, 2015 14:04:41 GMT -5 downtoearth said:

I just keep wondering how it got away... floating at 10,000 feet means it's been there awhile. Did they not have a safety/second leash just in case? Did somebody mess up when checking on it or something fly through the line breaking it?

The military hadn't wasted a billion dollars in at least 24 hours so someone cut it loose.

/dead

[redheadbaker]

Oct 28, 2015 14:42:53 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

The tether hit some power lines in PA, it's down. I read that 20K people are without power. 

[hymen]

Oct 28, 2015 15:46:28 GMT -5 redheadbaker said:

Oct 28, 2015 14:42:53 GMT -5 Vespasia said:

The tether hit some power lines in PA, it's down. I read that 20K people are without power. 

Yep, that's in my area. My kids' daycare closed early because they had no power. Luckily our house still has it.

[hymen]

Oct 28, 2015 14:00:08 GMT -5 msmerymac said:

OMG, I'm pretty sure this picture is right near my house. I know which parking lot it was taken out of.

[penguingrrl]

[josieposy]

So many people were posting the Austin Powers video on twitter yesterday, and I was dying!

"What is that? It looks like a giant..."