# Killer Blimp over Pennsylvania! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 28, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999 "2015-10-28T18:58:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/61 "2015-10-29T07:40:32Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I think they’re more likely to go with some sort of remotely controlled valve to vent the helium to the atmosphere to deal with future runaway aerostats. This one ascended to 16,000 ft before it started losing altitude. It’s operational altitude was 10,000 ft. My guess is at 16K, the gas expanded enough to blow a seam or tear a hole in a gasbag. Operational altitude is 10,000 feet? I hope they’re well marked on aeronautical charts. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/62 "2015-10-29T12:54:21Z")
The VFR Washington sectional has a notation at Aberdeen Proving Grounds reading “CAUTION: UNMARKED BALLOONS ON CABLE TO 10,000 MSL” (above Mean Sea Level). IFR flights would be routed away from it. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/63 "2015-10-29T13:34:40Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > They might want to consider some sort of remote cable release in case of future runaway aerostats. There’s a lot of expensive, and probably classified, equipment on board. Losing all that ballast means losing the equipment. This time the Army got it back. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/64 "2015-10-29T13:41:01Z")
“Blimp” must be SDMB message boards code for “Laugh your ass off.” ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/65 "2015-10-29T13:54:58Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > There’s a lot of expensive, and probably classified, equipment on board. Losing all that ballast means losing the equipment. This time the Army got it back. Not to mention, a (almost) two-mile long cable, which is _not_ directly vertical due to winds has the potential to cause some serious damage/death when it falls back to Earth if it is released. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/66 "2015-10-29T15:09:03Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Great. > People like these are protecting our great nation from attack. > > > [@](#): > > > > NORAD spokesperson Mike Kucharek said that it is not yet clear why the blimp got loose, and that is part of an investigation. > > Asked whether the blimp could explode, Kucharek said helium has a flammable quality but that as the pressure inside the aerostat dissipates, the flammability decreases, the pressure is dissipating. Sterling Archer just blew his cover. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/67 "2015-10-29T15:44:33Z")
> [@Marine\_One](#): > > They were ready to call Tom Brady to bring it down. Well this takes all the air out of the joke I wanted to make. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/68 "2015-10-29T16:22:51Z")
> [@piepiepie](#): > > My newsfeed is full of blimp memes. It is almost like having a hovercraft full of eels. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/69 "2015-10-29T16:25:56Z")
> [@piepiepie](#): > > I live close enough to APG. My newsfeed is full of blimp memes. This is the most newsiest thing to happen around these parts in a long while. It’s been a good year. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/70 "2015-10-29T18:30:13Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > There’s a lot of expensive, and probably classified, equipment on board. Losing all that ballast means losing the equipment. This time the Army got it back. Good point. My idea stinks. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/71 "2015-10-29T18:48:02Z")
It still would seem to make sense to have a dump valve, as long as it could be opened right at the Oh Shit moment so the thing would drop right back down inside the APG perimeter. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/72 "2015-10-29T19:11:41Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > It still would seem to make sense to have a dump valve, as long as it could be opened right at the Oh Shit moment so the thing would drop right back down inside the APG perimeter. Causing massive damage within that perimeter. Of course, it’s unlikely that it will land within that perimeter. Given that the thing is at 10,000 feet and can’t be aimed, even if a dump valve was activated immediately it will likely drift beyond APG long before it hits the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/73 "2015-10-29T19:30:31Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > So you could drop two miles of cable onto the ground from a great height all at once? Excellent idea. > [@Spiderman](#): > > Not to mention, a (almost) two-mile long cable, which is _not_ directly vertical due to winds has the potential to cause some serious damage/death when it falls back to Earth if it is released. > [@davidm](#): > > Causing massive damage within that perimeter. Of course, it’s unlikely that it will land within that perimeter. Given that the thing is at 10,000 feet and can’t be aimed, even if a dump valve was activated immediately it will likely drift beyond APG long before it hits the ground. Jesus Pete, y’all - global warming, cancer, and a Trump presidency aren’t enough? Now I gotta worry about a rogue death-blimp cable-bombing me from 10,000 feet as well? I’m just going to stop going outside. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/74 "2015-10-29T19:31:23Z")
The site is, what, 20 or 30 miles long? Drop something suddenly non-buoyant from 2 miles and wind drift won’t carry it very far. Better to damage your own stuff than who-knows-what out in the world beyond, btw - which is what happened here. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/75 "2015-10-29T19:32:40Z")
They need to revisit the idea of filling these things with hydrogen. If it keeps away then just set off a little charge inside and ‘poof’, no more aerostat. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/76 "2015-10-29T19:42:27Z")
Y’all are thinking about this backwards. Once it broke loose an uncontrolled arrival back on Earth was inevitable. As was some damage to who-knows-what from the dragging cable. The sooner you drop it the less likely the scenario will compound. You already bought an uncontrolled impact. Better to have it near and soon than far and later. Any delay is just engaging in wishful thinking that the Safety Fairy will intervene and make it all better. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/77 "2015-10-29T20:34:03Z")
True. It’s coming down somewhere sometime. And it being unsteerable you can’t deliberately aim for open country or for the Bay. Better drop it within or close to APG where they are already sort of prepared for some calamity. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/78 "2015-10-29T20:57:45Z")
This system has been controversial for a while. > **[How a $2.7 billion air-defense system became a 'zombie' program](https://graphics.latimes.com/missile-defense-jlens/)** > > JLENS was billed as the answer to an ever-expanding list of threats, from cruise missiles to explosive-laden trucks. But the blimp-borne radar system has yet to perform as promised. > [@](#): > > Army leaders tried to kill JLENS in 2010, The Times learned. What happened next illustrates the difficulty of extinguishing even a deeply troubled defense program. > > Raytheon mobilized its congressional lobbyists. Within the Pentagon, Marine Corps Gen. James E. “Hoss” Cartwright, then vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, came to JLENS’ defense, arguing that it held promise for enhancing the nation’s air defenses. > > At Cartwright’s urging, money was found in 2011 for a trial run of the technology — officially, an “operational exercise” — in the skies above Washington, D.C. > > Cartwright retired the same year — and joined Raytheon’s board of directors five months later. As of the end of 2014, Raytheon had paid him more than $828,000 in cash and stock for serving as a director, Securities and Exchange Commission records show. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/79 "2015-10-29T22:54:31Z")
The blimp was shot:eek: > **[Gunshots help deflate runaway military blimp in Pennsylvania](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gunshots-deflate-runaway-military-blimp-in-pennsylvania/)** > > Unmanned ​Army blimp dragged a chain that shorted out power lines before descending in central Pennsylvania “Pennsylvania law enforcement on Thursday used small arms fire to deflate the unmanned runaway Army blimp…”. “…there were fears it could be grabbed by the winds and take off again…” “A Pentagon spokesperson told Martin on Thursday the blimp is a fire control blimp, not the surveillance blimp that was originally reported.” - This is not the blimp you are looking for - Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi He’s a Pentagon spokesperson now??😕 “I don’t know, Barney, it may be trying to get away? Should I taser it or shoot it? I don’t see any knees?” BLIMP Lives Matter. (why yes, totally insensitive but pale in contrast to the death pool or the Pit) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2015, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999/80 "2015-10-29T23:58:37Z")
So how _did_ it break loose? Someone lean on the wrong button? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/killer-blimp-over-pennsylvania/735999.md?page=5)