Why the military uses 'blimps'

On Wednesday, many watched in amazement as a "blimp" broke loose from its mooring outside Aberdeen, Maryland. Dragging a 6,000-foot steel mooring cable -- which caused local power outages as it made contact with power lines -- and escorted by circling F-16s aircraft that cleared civilian aircraft flight paths, the balloon finally deflated and came to rest 100 miles north in a wooded area near Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.

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