U.S. military blimp lands in Pennsylvania after detaching from mooring

An unmanned military surveillance blimp that has detached from its mooring station in Maryland landed in Pennsylvania after a four-hour floating, authorities said on Wednesday.

The blimp was on the ground and located near Moreland Township, Pennsylvania, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said via its official Twitter account. "The authorities have secured the area and military recovery team is enroute."

Technically known as the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, the 243-foot-long surveillance blimp detached from its mooring station in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, at about 12:20 p.m. EDT, according to the NORAD.

Two U.S. F-16 Fighter jets were launched from the Air National Guard Base in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to monitor the unmanned aircraft, and NORAD officials were working closely with the Federal Aviation Administration to ensure air traffic safety after the incident happened, NORAD said earlier in a statement.

This type aircraft, typically carried powerful surveillance cameras, have been used extensively in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to provide ground surveillance around U.S. bases and other sensitive sites.

"My understanding is, from having seen these break loose in Afghanistan on a number of occasions, we could get it to descend and then we'll recover it and put it back up," U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter told reporters at the Pentagon. "This happens in bad weather."

The blimp had been in the air over Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, snapping power lines and causing widespread power outages in the area before it came down, CNN reported.

It's still unclear how the blimp got loose and how it came down. Authorities have not received any reports of injuries because of the incident. Enditem