Runaway Army blimp lands in Pa. — and explodes on the Internet

Untethered, unmanned surveillance aircraft quickly becomes a Twitter meme.

Dylan Stableford
·Senior Writer
Runaway Army blimp lands in Pa. — and explodes on the Internet

A U.S. military surveillance blimp came loose from its tether on Wednesday, drifting 16,000 feet into the skies above Pennsylvania, sending North American Aerospace Defense Command and the Federal Aviation Administration into crisis mode — and Twitter into a meme-making frenzy.

The 243-foot-long, helium-filled blimp became detached from its mooring on the Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground installation near Baltimore shortly before noon, forcing the Air National Guard to scramble two F-16 fighter jets and officials to put out an APB on the unmanned aircraft known as JLENS, short for "Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System."


"Anyone who sees the aerostat is advised to contact 911 immediately," Army spokeswoman Heather Roelker said in a statement to the Baltimore Sun.

An untethered Army surveillance blimp is seen above Bloomsburg, Pa. (Courtesy of Susan Switzer via AP)
An untethered Army surveillance blimp is seen above Bloomsburg, Pa. (Courtesy of Susan Switzer via AP)


Twitter exploded with plenty of sightings of the blimp — virtually none of them useful.


Arizona Sen. John McCain encouraged the Air Force to track the blimp.


Even Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency turned whistleblower, was incredulous.


Unfortunately for Twitter, the blimp landed well before many users would've liked.


But that didn't stop the merry meme makers.


Ironically, Raytheon had posted a job opening on Tuesday for a blimp watcher for the JLENS.


Among the job's many requirements:

Ability to perform physically challenging labor
Ability to react and make quick, sound decisions in stressful environments
Ability to climb platforms
Ability to lift and carry 60 lbs.
Ability to work in varying weather extremes
Ability to apply logic and common sense to overcome obstacles


Not listed, but now understood: Watch the blimp.