. . . by Jae Song.
We saw this object in the sky from some distance away on the road to Marfa. At first I thought it was a small airplane until I realized it wasn’t moving. Then I thought it might be a hot-air balloon, except that those are usually brightly colored.
As we got closer we realized it was some sort of tethered dirigible, which seemed to be in the shape of a dolphin. As we passed it, it no longer looked like a marine mammal — just a miniature airship with a small enclosed gondola beneath it.
Since we were near Mexico, we concluded that it contained equipment for monitoring illegal border crossings — but who knows?
Click on the image to enlarge.
[See the comments for the solution to the mystery . . .]
It’s technically a blimp, rather than a dirigible, and probably a part of the Tethered Aerostat Radar System…
Thanks for that info, Theophilus!
I didn’t know what that meant, so looked it up. Many sources called the dirigible a “moored balloon”; here’s the official story from the Dept. of Homeland Security. Yikes! I got nervous just going to its Web site.
http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/2013-11-04-050000/cbp-assumes-operational-control-tethered-aerostat
I can’t go there.
Some 20 odd years ago my sons attended summer camp at Camp Prude in Fort Davis. When I went down to visit them we took a ride over to Marfa. We wanted to locate the old Giant set. Locals told us that the road was now cut off because a dirigible was anchored on it. They said that the dirigibles were there looking for drug smugglers.
Apparently that’s what it’s still doing. Odd to think that it’s anchored to the old “Giant” set.