On March 3rd, 2025, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection surveillance blimp (a Tethered Aerostat Radar System) broke free from its mooring in South Padre Island due to a severe wind event. The thing went rogue, drifting nearly 600 miles across the state before crashing into power lines in Hunt County, about 30 miles east of Dallas, on March 4th.
This wasn’t just a quiet float away either This event caused some real chaos. The blimp, roughly 200 feet long and filled with helium, got tangled in power lines, knocked out electricity in spots and even damaged a family’s roof on its way down. Locals in Quinlan, where it finally landed, were baffled at first, mistaking it for a hot air balloon or some random tarp.
It took a 60 ton rotator crane and a couple of hours to untangle the mess from the power lines, with federal agents and local fire crews scratching their heads over the whole ordeal.
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