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Mystery Solved: Flying Blimp Seen In Calhan

Updated: Tue 10:58 PM, Feb 12, 2013

It's a mystery solved, something seeing hovering in and over eastern El Paso County. Only 11 News has confirmation of what it is, and what it was doing.

11 News also talked to the couple who saw the strange object in the air, and sent us the photos. They said it was really big and interesting. They didn't think it was anything to worry about, just unusual, a spectacle, and a mystery.

Pictured next to a full sized RV the blimp-like object dwarfs the vehicle. Linda Glidden told us she and her husband were in Calhan when they saw this in the air. She took a closer look through binoculars and saw it on the ground in a field near Judge Orr Road and Ramah Highway.

Linda described it as a blimp, but wider and says there were roughly 30 vehicles around it when it landed.

"It was just something different in my world, in my lifetime (I’ve) never have seen anything like that so it was very interesting. I should’ve just drove in and just asked them what they were doing, but I didn't want to be that snoopy," Glidden said.

11 News contacted several military installations in Southern Colorado and the FAA. No one knew what it was.

After posting the picture on our Facebook page, someone told us about a local company who sells these blimps. Only 11 News talked to the CEO and owner of that company. He told us it's a large helium balloon tethered to the ground, and it’s used as a surveillance system.

It's just in a testing phase right now, so don’t be alarmed if it’s around for the next few weeks. As of now, it doesn't have any actual surveillance abilities.

The owner told us they make these for government agencies and large corporations who need a surveillance system to cover and keep a large areas secure.


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