[Scan-DC] Airship [blimp] over downtown DC

[James Richardson]

Security Blimp Floats Over Arlington
DOD Flies New 'Patrol Blimp'

POSTED: 9:17 am EDT September 29, 2004
ARLINGTON, Va. -- A lot of people called the News4 newsroom early Wednesday
morning wondering about a strange-looking object floating over Arlington,
Va., near the Pentagon.

The Army said the 178-foot-long white security blimp was conducting a
mission for the Defense Department.

Pentagon police called it a new piece of aerial security, a "patrol blimp."

Authorities said the airship is equipped with infrared cameras designed to
provide real-time images to military commanders on the ground. The equipment
on the blimp already is being used to protect troops in Afghanistan and
Iraq, they said.

The Army said the device will make at least one 24-hour flight in the D.C.
area.

They said the blimp has been in the region since last week, and is also
being used for flights over the Marine Corps Base in Quantico and the
Chesapeake Bay.