Bizarre air chase as huge blimp breaks loose in US, pursued by F-16 fighters
The unmanned balloon caused blackouts as it drifted across Pennsylvania, dragging its tether over power lines
An unmanned Army surveillance blimp broke loose from its mooring in Maryland and floated over Pennsylvania for hours with two US fighter jets on its tail, triggering blackouts across the countryside as it dragged its tether across power lines.
The North American Aerospace Defence Command in Colorado said the blimp escaped from its station at the military's Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, just outside the nation's capital, at about 12.20 pm and drifted northward, climbing to about 4,900 metres. It covered about 240km in all.
As the blimp drifted away, two F-16s were scrambled from a National Guard base at Atlantic City, New Jersey, to track it, though Norad spokesman Navy Capt. Scott Miller said there was never any intention of shooting it down.
The blimp deflated and settled back to Earth on its own, according to Miller. He said there was an auto-deflate device aboard the blimp, but it was not deliberately activated, and it is unclear why the craft went limp.
Witnesses watched it float over a sparsely populated area, its tether snapping power lines.