Loose NORAD Blimp Mostly Deflated, Rests In Pennsylvania

A US military blimp associated with NORAD's surveillance of the East Coast, broke loose on Wednesday and became untethered from its mooring station at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, CNN reported.

According to NORAD, the blimp "is mostly deflated and located in the vicinity of Moreland Township, Pennsylvania. Local authorities are securing the area and there is a military recovery team en route."

It is in two major pieces, split between the tail and the rest of the aerostat, Army Capt. Matthew Villa told CNN.

The loose JLENS blimp had been floating over Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, and caused power outages before it came down, Columbia County Department of Public Safety Director Fred Hunsinger said and added that there were no reports of injuries or deaths.

The BaltimoreSun explains that blimps are fastened to the ground with thick, 10,000-foot cables that can transmit the data they collect back to earth. They're designed to stay aloft in winds of up to 70 knots, and remain in the air even if their skin is pierced.

Raytheon, the contractor that makes the blimps, told BaltimoreSun that the cable is unlikely to break.

"The chance of that happening is very small because the tether is made of Vectran and has withstood storms in excess of 100 knots," the company said on its website. "However, in the unlikely event it does happen, there are a number of procedures and systems in place which are designed to bring the aerostat down in a safe manner."

Around 40 personnel from the home base of the military blimp are now at the site where it landed, a U.S. military official told CNN. NORAD spokesman Mike Kucharek said that it is not yet clear why the blimp got loose, and that is part of an investigation.