Weeks of drone sightings over New Jersey and New York have sparked concerns – and conspiracies. The FBI is investigating more than 3,000 reports of unexplained drone sightings in New Jersey alone. The vast majority of the reports are turning out to be airplane but other sightings of the unexplained drones are just that – unexplained.
But more than a decade before drone dread hit the country, Alabama was in the center of a sky mystery of its own. This one didn’t involve buzzing drones but rather a mysterious blob that first appeared on radar followed by scattered debris across North Alabama.
Redstone Blob
It was June 5, 2013 when an unexplained image appeared on the weather radar of WHNT in Huntsville. The anomaly, which came to be called a blob, popped up in the late afternoon centered near the northwest edge of Redstone Arsenal, home to NASA, Missile Defense Agency, Missile and Space Intelligence Center, the Army’s Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command and Redstone Test Center. There was no thunderstorm in the area and the blob had appeared suddenly, spreading nearly 10 miles wide and a mile high. It stayed on the radar for almost nine hours yet nothing could be seen from the ground.
At first, it was believed the image was caused by a damaged electrical substation but Huntsville Utilities quickly ruled that out. Arsenal officials were mum, saying they didn’t know what was causing the echo to appear.
Social media stories spread quickly and soon, images of a white substance falling from the sky in the area of the blob were everywhere.
Conspiracy theories exploded with – of course – aliens taking center stage. Others ideas were more practical, citing smoke, weather patterns or even a swarm of bugs as possible reasons behind the blob. It was logical to assume the blob was related to something at Redstone Arsenal but officials there were circumspect.
“As a matter of Operational Security policy, we do not offer details concerning the circumstances under which testing activities are performed. Further, discussing specific measures and operational procedures could adversely affect the success of testing activities. We routinely evaluate and validate weapon systems and components so that we and our allies can maintain the edge over adversaries. Testing assures that war fighting capabilities are in a high state of readiness,” officials said in a statement.
The idea that military testing was involved grew after Severe Weather and Radar Research groups at UAH found fiberglass chaff near Zierdt Road in Huntsville, about the point of the blob’s origin. Chaff is small reflective strips released by aircrafts or ships to create false radar signals and confuse enemy tracking systems. Experts weren’t convinced, however, saying the chaff typically produced long, elongated signatures on radars, not concentrated blobs that hung around for hours.
But, as with most conspiracy theories, it turned out the answer was fairly straightforward.
Chaff emitted from an aircraft conducting routine testing was to blame for the Redstone Blob, arsenal officials said in a statement issued after speculation over the anomaly’s origin grew. Weather conditions in the area caused the chaff to essentially be suspended in the air for longer than normal before it fell to Earth and was spotted in Huntsville. The delay also allowed it to show up on radar late into the evening.
“This RR-188 (chaff) showed as an anomaly on local weather screens as weather conditions caused it to linger longer than normal,” the statement read.
There was no danger or environmental issues from the chaff and soon, life in Huntsville, returned to normal – at least as normal as it can be with military testing rattling windows on a regular basis and a hum of state-of-the-art helicopters overhead.
©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit al.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
