The Brief
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A large tarp-like item fell from the sky in Quinlan, Texas on Tuesday night.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations is investigating.
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The item has been identified as an Air and Marine Operations (AMO) Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS).
QUINLAN, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has claimed an object that people from Quinlan say fell from the sky on Tuesday night. They are calling it an Air and Marine Operations (AMO) Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS).
Border Protection claims balloon
The TARS landed on a private ranch in Quinlan, Texas, which is in the southern part of Hunt County, east of Dallas. Witnesses told FOX 4 it looked like a very large tarp with a metal structure as “big as a truck.”
Police and other officials on the scene told the witness it was a balloon, but wouldn’t give any other details.
SKY 4 captured video of what appeared to be a crew at the scene. A crane was also on the scene.
What we know
In a news release on Wednesday afternoon, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on March 3, at 3:15 p.m., South Padre Island experienced a severe wind event that caused the Air and Marine Operations Tethered Aerostat System to break free from its tether. The contact with the Aerostat was lost shortly after it broke free, officials stated.
On March 4, the Aerostat System was found in Quinlan, Texas. The Quinlan Texas Fire and Rescue in Hunt County notified the CBP.
Air and Marine Operations is currently working alongside federal, state, and local officials to investigate.
Debris from the crash was gathered by the Rayburn Electric Cooperative and is currently being stores in its warehouses in Rockwall.
What is a Tethered Aerostat Radar System?
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations (AMO) uses the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) to provide long-range detection of low-altitude aircraft at the radar’s maximum range. (Source: CBP)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations (AMO) uses the Tethered Aerostat Radar System (TARS) to provide long-range detection of low-altitude aircraft at the radar’s maximum range.
TARS detects and tracks the majority of suspicious air traffic along the southwest border, including ultralight and short landing aircraft threats.
The Department of Homeland Security requires this unique TARS capability in areas beyond the southwest border, including the Gulf, southern Atlantic and Pacific coastlines and extended regions throughout the Caribbean used by transnational criminal organizations for illicit smuggling of narcotics and people.
From 2014 through 2020, TARS was responsible for detecting 68% of all suspected air smuggling flights approaching the southwest border from Mexico, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The TARS is around 200 feet long and is around 65 feet in diameter. The hull of the Aerostat contains two parts. The upper chamber is filled with helium and provides the Aerostat’s lifting capability. The lower chamber of the hull is a pressurized air compartment.
The Aerostat system consists of a helium-filled balloon, fixed-site mooring and tether controls, command and control stations, data distribution network, and maintenance support vehicles and facilities. A minimum of five operators launch and recover the TARS.
The Source
Information in this article is from SKY 4, witnesses on the scene, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
