A $175 million helium-filled balloon, known as a Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile
Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, detached from its mooring at
Aberdeen, Maryland, shortly before noon. The balloon is nearly as long as a
football field and was dragging a 6,000-foot-long cable, which knocked
out power in some areas. The cable was electrified and evidently part of the balloon's antenna system. It was eventually brought down in Pennsylvania.
Here's the rest of the story. The balloon was designed as part of a national missile defense system costing multi-billions of dollars, but it does not work. The Army sought to kill the project in 2010, but was overruled by the Pentagon. Ash Carter says similar balloon were deployed in Afghanistan and they have a history of breaking loose from their moorings in bad weather and wreaking havoc, which I guess, is why they installed one in Maryland.
And we pay those guys?
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