A Border Patrol surveillance blimp, equipped with downward-looking radar to surveil the border, which appeared near Nogales AZ last summer with no announcement and was housed at a base in the city, vanished this week just as quietly as it appeared.
The aerostat had been grounded at its hillside base on the east side of the city since the start of 2023 – a not unusual state, considering the stormy weather that arrived with the new year. But after the weather cleared Tuesday, the blimp remained grounded and lights could be seen that evening at the mooring site.
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