The East Coast of the United States witnessed a perplexing sight recently when an unmanned military surveillance blimp came loose from its mooring in Maryland. The blimp, a giant 240-foot aircraft designed to protect the Washington, D.C. area from potential enemy attacks, proceeded to float across the state border into Pennsylvania, dragging its tether made of "super-strong cables" with it. The runaway aircraft's tail wreaked havoc by ripping through countryside's power lines, causing over 15,000 homes to lose power and schoolchildren to stay indoors. Upon its escape, two F-16 fighter jets were deployed to follow the blimp throughout its journey, although reports say that no "kinetic action" was taken to eventually bring the blimp down. The company that manufactured the tether had previously addressed the possibility of it breaking by stating, "The chance of that happening is very small because the tether is made of Vectran and has withstood storms in excess of 100 knots." Locals did agree that it had been windy that day.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Regardless, sometimes it seems that our actions become our own "runaway blimps"—one sin, one poor decision, or one shameful secret over which we think we have control can, out of nowhere, be ripped from our control in an instant, causing damage, pain, and a good deal of explanation.

Source:

Greg Clary & Barbara Starr, “Pentagon personnel on site to investigate loose blimp,” CNN (10-29-15)