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In Maryland, a balloon from JLENS (Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System) broke loose from its tether. The balloon eventually descended to the ground, but its dragging cable caused an electrical outage affecting 30,000 or 35,000 people. The Secretary of Defense promised to catch the balloon and fly it again.
Coverage can be found from a multitude of sources:
The Energy Education Council offers safety tips for helium balloons.
We previously covered JLENS in September with: JLENS Balloons Still Not Warning US of Cruise Missiles which has more background on the system.
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Loose JLENS Balloon Causes Blackout
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You are a fluke of the universe; you have no right to be here.
(Score: 3, Funny) by wonkey_monkey on Friday October 30 2015, @08:40AM
but its dragging cable caused an electrical outage affecting 30,000 or 35,000 people
But definitely not 30,001 or 34,999.
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Friday October 30 2015, @06:16PM
31,415.59, precisely.
4th order of mag from Pi: a round cable dangling from a somewhat spherical balloon. They're still trying to figure out how to round off the victims.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 30 2015, @08:21PM
The Washington Post said 35,000; the Baltimore Sun said "about 20,000"; NBC, "around 30,000" and USA Today was silent on the matter. I suppose I should have written "estimated at 20,000 to 35,000" or the like.