The JLENS or Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System program is comprised of two tethered blimps with radars that can track aircraft and missiles. An 18-inch-long device called pitot tube that measures the blimps' air pressure apparently started the unfortunate sequence of events in October 2015. One of the blimps failed to start up its fans in response to atmospheric changes, because its pitot tube was malfunctioning and couldn't effectively do its job. Due to the drop in air pressure, the blimp turned perpendicular to the wind -- it remained that way until its 8-inch-thick Kevlar tethers were torn apart.

Now, here's what's frustrating. The blimp wouldn't have damaged Pennsylvania's power lines if only the Army installed its batteries. Its tethers also held its electric wiring, but it was supposed to have a backup power source for its automatic deflation system. The blimp would have fallen to the ground two miles from where it was tied down if only the device worked. LA Times says the military asked Congress for $27 million to get the JLENS project back up. It remains to be seen whether the government will agree, considering the project had been performing poorly before it was suspended.