NOW THAT'S A TURKEY SHOOT!
By now we have all heard the story of the wayward government spy blimp with the sensitive equipment aboard it that somehow floated away last week. But what we haven’t heard much about is the not so sophisticated method used to take it down.
Seems some Pa. State Police got some target practice. Here’s a quick short from the AP story
MUNCY, Pa. (AP) — State police used shotguns Thursday to deflate a wayward military surveillance blimp that broke loose in Maryland and floated for hours before coming down into trees in the Pennsylvania countryside.
Curious residents trickled into a staging area as the military began gathering up some 6,000 feet of tether, the blimp's huge hull and a smaller tail piece, a process expected to take at least through Friday.
The white behemoth still had helium in its nose when it went down in a steep ravine on Wednesday afternoon, and the easiest way to drain the gas was to shoot it, U.S. Army Captain Matthew Villa said. State police troopers peppered the blimp with about 100 shots.
The slow-moving, unmanned Army surveillance blimp broke loose from its mooring at Aberdeen Proving Ground and then floated over Pennsylvania, causing thousands of electrical outages as its dangling tether took out power lines.
The 240-foot helium-filled blimp, which had two fighter jets on its tail, came down near Muncy, a small town about 80 miles north of Harrisburg, the state capital. No injuries were reported.
Very sensitive electronics onboard have been removed, Villa said. The military is considering using helicopters to ferry the wreckage from the site, he said.