# Maryland/DC area dopers - Look to the skies for the big Homeland Security Blimp! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 25, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dc-area-dopers-look-to-the-skies-for-the-big-homeland-security-blimp/266051 "2004-09-25T16:46:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dc-area-dopers-look-to-the-skies-for-the-big-homeland-security-blimp/266051/1 "2004-09-25T16:46:50Z")
[Army Floats a Trial Balloon - Equipped Blimp Hovers Above Area In Test of Technology](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48616-2004Sep24.html) > [@](#): > > In the middle of a cornfield in Maryland, a blimp glided in for a landing. > > Eight men grabbed two long guide ropes that dragged them along, their heels dug in, until the blimp halted, hovering a foot off the ground. The sun momentarily dimmed as the airship’s two propeller engines kicked up a swirl of dry corn husks. > > The U.S. Army believes scenes such as the one that has unfolded repeatedly over the past two days near Freeway Airport in Bowie might be as much about the future as a quaint reenactment of a bygone time. > > That is why the Army has leased a blimp from the nation’s only airship manufacturer and outfitted it with sensors and cameras. Over the next week, the 178-foot-long lighter-than-air craft will conduct test runs over the Washington area. In the fabric gondola hanging below the envelope, a technician will aim a camera, mounted to the front of the cabin, at government buildings and military bases. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dc-area-dopers-look-to-the-skies-for-the-big-homeland-security-blimp/266051/2 "2004-09-25T18:12:57Z")
Oh, the Horror… ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dc-area-dopers-look-to-the-skies-for-the-big-homeland-security-blimp/266051/3 "2004-09-25T20:09:15Z")
I think the important question is whether or not it will give aerial shots of this week’s Redskins and Ravens games. ---
**Author:** ![krisolov](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/krisolov/32/3724_2.png) [@krisolov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/krisolov)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dc-area-dopers-look-to-the-skies-for-the-big-homeland-security-blimp/266051/4 "2004-09-26T00:47:38Z")
I actually saw this as I was driving to work after a site visit this friday. All white; I wondered who it belinged to since it didn’t have advertising all over it. I love seeing blimps! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dc-area-dopers-look-to-the-skies-for-the-big-homeland-security-blimp/266051/5 "2004-09-26T01:08:17Z")
> [@krisolov](#): > > I actually saw this as I was driving to work after a site visit this friday. All white; I wondered who it belinged to since it didn’t have advertising all over it. I love seeing blimps! [Bizzaro Yakov Smirnov]In United States of America, _blimps_ see _you_![/BYS] ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dc-area-dopers-look-to-the-skies-for-the-big-homeland-security-blimp/266051/6 "2004-09-26T01:55:48Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > Oh, the Horror… I think you mean “Oh, the Humanity, and all the passengers!” Or are you thinking of Marlon Brando’s Kurtz? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dc-area-dopers-look-to-the-skies-for-the-big-homeland-security-blimp/266051/7 "2004-09-26T02:35:36Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > I think you mean “Oh, the Humanity, and all the passengers!” > > Or are you thinking of Marlon Brando’s Kurtz? 😃 I’m guessing Scylla. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dc-area-dopers-look-to-the-skies-for-the-big-homeland-security-blimp/266051/8 "2004-09-26T03:23:30Z")
:smack: ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/maryland-dc-area-dopers-look-to-the-skies-for-the-big-homeland-security-blimp/266051/9 "2004-09-26T03:47:36Z")
Sure, just a couple years after we unloaded the [helium reserve](http://www.geoffmetcalf.com/qa/24028.html) that we’ve had since WWI to the private sector.