A United States Army blimp broke loose from its tethers at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland and sailed itself all the way into rural Pennsylvania on Thursday. NORAD said that the blimp had left Maryland and that they tracked it to rural Montour County, Pennsylvania. The blimp left Maryland at 12:20 Eastern.

Two American fighter jets were escorting the blimp along the way. On Wednesday, the Pennsylvania National Guard was scrambled to follow along in helicopters to try and secure a landing sight, reported CBS News. On Thursday, local law enforcement officers shot the blimp down with small arms fire. The blimp is deflated and there were no injuries reported in the incident. Local law enforcement were called in because there was a fear that the blimp would sail off again as the winds had begun to pick up in the area.

The Pentagon reports that the blimp was used for fire control purposes. There were original media reports claiming that the blimp was a surveillance blimp. The Army announced that it will hold its follow up investigation and early reports are that it was just an accident and that no foul play is suspected by anyone. The blimp is being collected and gathered including pieces that were blown away from the gunfire.

The long tether that was still attached to the blimp took down numerous power lines along its journey. The local Pennsylvania power company reports that they have about 20,000 customers still without power. The blimp has a built in mechanism designed to automatically deflate it if it breaks the tether but it, apparently, failed somehow.

There are two of these blimps in existence with the second one, indeed, being a surveillance blimp. Maryland residents who live near the proving ground have always been concerned with the blimps. No one wants the giant airship to crash in its neighborhood. The blimps are part of an Army program that will run over the course of ten years at a cost of $2.6 billion.