Harford County Councilman Jim McMahan recently suggested that Aberdeen Proving Ground officials have not been honest in their statements about what a balloon designed to carry systems for early detection and tracking of airborne weapons, which is being tested at the Edgewood Area of APG, would be doing once it is aloft.
The Army is testing the blimp-like balloons, which are called aerostats and are tethered to the ground, from locations on APG property in Edgewood and Middle River.
The aerostats are part of the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, or JLENS, and carry radar that can cover a radius of up to 340 miles.
McMahan, who brought up his concerns during the Jan. 6 County Council meeting, said council members had previously been told the system would just be tested, but not used, for homeland defense.
He said Thursday, however, that he has since been in touch with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, and some of his concerns have been addressed.
The balloons being tested in U.S. airspace do not carry any weapons or surveillance cameras, according to Army officials.
"Now, if balloons in the air over the Edgewood Area of Aberdeen Proving Ground are to protect military installations and beyond, why not tell us?" McMahan asked during the earlier council meeting.
McMahan referred to a June 10, 2014, presentation to the council by APG representatives regarding the JLENS testing.
"The ultimate mission of these devices as a defensive weapon to protect Washington, D.C., was not revealed even under direct questioning," he recalled.
It was also reported in an article published in The Aegis about the presentation, however, that JLENS with its radar could track threats such as cruise missiles or aircraft around the nation's capital, New York and even over the ocean.
"For heaven's sakes, any attack on APG would be devastating to the economy of this county," McMahan exclaimed. "We are part and parcel of the military-industrial complex that drives the economic machine of Harford County."
McMahan then implored APG and Army officials to "please be honest with us."
"We're partners, and I personally thank you for the protection and early warning that I believe you're trying to provide and I do not believe that you're really trying to look in my bedroom window," he said.
A number of civil liberties organizations have expressed concerns about the JLENS conducting airborne surveillance of Americans.
McMahan made a request for Maj. Gen. Glenn Bramhall, commander of the 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command that is in charge of the tests, to give more information to the council.
"I respectfully request that you give this council, and our citizens, a real briefing," the councilman said. "Tell us what you're doing to protect us; we can handle it."
McMahan also stressed the long-standing partnership between Harford County and APG, which has been in place for almost a century.
"We in Harford County, we can handle the truth, and we've been doing so with the earth rumbling, the windows shaking and smoke rising from APG since Oct. 20 of 1917," he said.
McMahan said Thursday he is still gathering information; however, he also said he has talked to Major Beth Smithat NORAD headquarters in Colorado, who he said "swears there is no weapons platform, only testing the tracking systems."
"She [Smith] said they picked Aberdeen because APG has had a No Fly Zone for years," McMahan explained via email. "I remember that from my private flying days. You could not cross over Route 40 to the eastor you were inrestricted air spacejust like over the White House or the Capitol."