US surveillance balloon breaks free near Texas border and travels to Dallas area before crashing

DALLAS — A large balloon used by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for surveillance along the Texas border broke free and traveled about 600 miles (966 kilometers) to the north before crashing as high winds swept through the state, officials said.

On Monday afternoon, the aerostat system broke free from its tether during a “severe wind event” on South Padre Island and contact was lost, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. The agency said it was located the next day in Hunt County, about 30 miles east of Dallas.

“All the neighbors were over there. Nobody knew what it was,” Clay Hinton told WFAA television station.

Then, he said, officials began arriving. “I was like, oh, OK it’s not just a tarp or anything," he said. "That’s something!”

A storm system that moved through the Dallas area early Tuesday brought wind gusts over 75 mph (120 kph), and on Monday afternoon wind gusts in South Padre Island and the surrounding area had ranged from around 20 mph (32 kph) to 30 mph (48 kph), National Weather Service officials said.

A fact sheet from Customs and Border Protection says it uses the Tethered Aerostat Radar System to detect low-altitude aircraft. The hull of the aerostat consists of an upper chamber filled with helium, and the lower chamber is a pressurized air compartment.

Customs and Border Protection said it will work with federal, state and local officials to investigate the incident.