Military Clears Runaway Blimp to Fly Again

The infamous military surveillance blimp that broke loose from its post at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland last fall has been cleared to fly again following a three-month investigation into the incident by the Department of Defense.

An investigation by the Army's Combat Readiness Center and the Cruise Missile Defense System's Joint Product Office concluded the Raytheon-made blimp broke free due to a combination of flaws, including design, human error and procedural issues, according to a spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command.

"The loss of aerodynamic efficiency along with increased wind drag exacerbated the tension on the aerostat's tether to the point of breakage," Maj. Beth Smith, a spokeswoman for NORAD, Defense News reported Thursday.

The 243-foot-long, helium-filled blimp is known as a Joint Land Attack Cruise Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, or JLENS, and is used by the military to track any approaching targets within 300 miles. It came untethered on Oct. 28 and floated more than 100 miles northwest over Pennsylvania farm country.

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