Military Program May Be Revived, Even After Runaway Blimp

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The blimps never worked as planned and one even escaped, triggering a two-state chase.

But Alex DeMetrick reports it now looks like military blimps will fly again over Maryland.

The blimps at Aberdeen Proving Grounds are supposed to stay tethered to the ground. But last year, when the cable snapped, one blimp took off, drifting north into Pennsylvania---its dragging cable causing tens of thousands of dollars in property damage.

The military wants to fly them again and it appears they've been cleared for takeoff by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter.

"The secretary has concurred with the recommendation to continue with that operational test," said Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook.

That test is designed to spot an incoming attack on the East Coast by air.

"It's simply a radar designed to look for flying things only in the simplest terms so we're looking at aircraft only," said Army Lieutenant Shane Glass.

The most notorious of which it didn't see, when a man piloted his gyrocopter onto Capitol Hill last year.

"This isn't good, people," said one woman. "It was unbelievable."

This week, investigators found out that a tube, which should have alerted controllers to bring the blimp down before it broke away, malfunctioned because batteries were not installed. As for a full report on the accident...

"I'm not sure at this point that NORAD and the army, the army conducted that review, are ready to release all the details of that yet," Cook said.

Even if they are prepared to put the blimps back up over Maryland.

While the defense secretary agrees the blimps should go back up, a date has not been determined.