On Oct. 28, 2015, an unmanned, military blimp crossed over Schuylkill and Columbia counties and caused more than $300,000 in damage.
The organization behind it, North American Aerospace Defense Command, announced this week that it will resume testing with these giant radar balloons, according to The Associated Press.
The aircraft, known as a Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, or JLENS, escaped from the military’s Aberdeen Proving Ground about 12:20 p.m. Oct. 28 and drifted northward, finally coming down near Muncy, Lycoming County.
The NORAD report said the malfunction of a pressure-sensing device coupled with wind speed caused the blimp to break loose from its mooring.
JLENS is a supporting program of the Army and Joint Integrated Air and Missile Defense, providing persistent, over-the-horizon radar surveillance and fire control quality data on Army and Joint Networks, according to Maj. Beth Smith, a NORAD spokeswoman. It enables protection from threats including manned and unmanned aircraft, cruise missiles and surface moving targets like swarming boats and tanks.
Schuylkill County Emergency Management officials were notified Oct. 28 that the blimp traveled over the county about 1:30 p.m. near Port Clinton, and that the military was following it. John Matz, county emergency coordinator, said the DOD notified the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, who then notified the county.
Damage to power lines caused by the blimp’s tether left 35,000 customers in Columbia and Schuylkill counties without electricity on Oct. 28, according to PPL. Most consumers had power restored by midnight, and all by the following day.
Smith told The Baltimore Sun that the agency plans to resume the testing, which is supposed to run for three years, the AP reported Friday.
More money is needed for the test and Congress has cut much of the funding for the project. Officials said U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter has signed off on the plan to resume testing, according to the AP.