A military blimp is grounded in Montour County, Pennsylvania, hours after detaching from its mooring at an Army base in Maryland, the military confirmed Wednesday afternoon.
It’s unclear how the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, known as JLENS, broke free, said Navy Capt. Scott Miller, a spokesman for North American Aerospace Defense Command.
Miller said a team from Maryland is on its way to recover the aerostat, which is deflating, though it’s unclear how it is doing so.
“We are not deflating it. We did not bring down the blimp,” Miller said.
We have a Blimp down, photo from WNEP reporter Nikki Krize pic.twitter.com/1XdJoviwXg
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 28, 2015
When the blimp broke free around noon on Wednesday, the military scrambled two armed F-16s from Atlantic City, New Jersey, though Miller said the military never intended to shoot it down.
The aerial sensor, which is about the length of a football field, is one of two at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. The second will be taken down until the military completes a full investigation as to why the tether broke.
The sensors can spot missiles or other aerial threats from more than 300 miles away, giving officials more time to respond to potential incidents, according to Raytheon, which makes the system.
Even without the two sensors aloft, Miller said the “defense of the D.C. area is very much intact,” but would not get into specifics of other systems in place to protect the region.
Miller said he has no idea yet of the extent of damage to the aerostat and doesn’t know if it can be fixed.
The sensor was flying at 6,600 feet when it broke free, then climbed to 15,000 feet and drifted north into Pennsylvania with the wind, Miller said.
Miller said the tethering cable broke closer to the ground and that there were “several thousand feet of cable” dragging along the ground as the aerostat drifted. Thousands of people in the region were without power as the cable downed power lines, according to multiple media reports.
The military is coordinating with Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Federal Aviation Administration and local police, though there is no extensive damage or casualties so far, Miller said.
