Over the years, there have been many reminders of the presence of Aberdeen Proving Ground passing in and out of as well as over Harford.
In recent years, it's been fairly rare that a tank being tested on post would show up on a local roadway, but there was a time when armored vehicles could be seen, on occasion, mingling with civilian traffic. From time to time, the sky over Harford has been the backdrop for seemingly endless circular trips being made by a trio of C-130 transport planes.
Though it would be hard to get official confirmation, jet airliners bearing the light blue and white paint job many of us associate with Air Force 1 have been sighted with varying degrees of regularity over APG.
Such reminders of the local military presence come and go, and once they arrive and the novelty wears off, they largely fade into the background. Such is likely the case for the new blimp visible from vantage points across Harford.
The primitive blimp technology (they have the look of something out of a World War I photo) belies their cutting edge technological role. The blimps are little more than platforms holding a device that can detect cruise missiles headed for the region, looking out 340 miles in any direction.
Depending on the speed of the missiles (some travel well beyond the speed of sound, which is 760 mph, give or take) the blimps may or may not provide sufficient time for doing something to prevent them from striking targets.
Hopefully, the blimp will never be pressed into official service locally and will be allowed, like other reminders of APG's presence, to fade into the background.