Balloon Outrage

A company from the United States is testing a new, sky-high surveillance technology along the border of Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan. A 15 metre long balloon shaped like a plane’s wing was placed above Port Huron with a camera aimed at the St. Clair River, which flows past downtown Sarnia. Officially this balloon is called an Aerostat. This helium-filled craft floats more than 240 metres above the ground and zooms to survey the water and the two bridges the link Sarnia to Port Huron. It is controlled by a ground crew in a trailer at a launch site near the river. The company that owns it, Sierra Nevada Corporation, wants to see if it can be sold to U.S. Homeland security to help monitor the border and coastlines. The Aerostat has to follow Federal Aviation Administration flight rules and must be pulled down out of the sky each night at 11:30 p.m. It is permitted to go back up at 6:30 a.m.

Most of Sarnia residents are outraged saying that this technology is "going too far."

But Bradley Lott, the retired U.S. Marine who is running the Aerostat testing in Port Huron, said the company's plan is to see what the aircraft can do and how it can be used in a variety of situations -- including for use in rescue operations after natural disasters or airline accidents. He said the camera would not be capturing images of buildings or people along the Sarnia waterfront, and it would focus only on the waterway and bridge.

In April, the U.S. border patrol said it would erect video surveillance towers to monitor boats leaving the Canadian side of Lake St. Clair. The $20-million security project will involve the installation of 11 video surveillance towers along Michigan waterfronts.

Sarnia residents have already put up with surveillance from helicopters, boats, the U.S. Coast Guard, and other patrols along the Ontario-Michigan border. Not to mention the flying drones that will start patrolling the border next year. It goes beyond the issue of U.S. defence concerns for many Sarnia residents, who say they simply do not want to be spied upon. Having a camera peering into Sarnia is a violation of their privacy and our sovereignty.

The Mayor of Sarnia, Mike Bradley, is upset at this violation, and is additionally upset that no one in Sarnia was asked as to whether the city wanted the Aerostat flying over its horizon.

He's even written to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, though Bradley said he has not yet received a response about the Aerostat issue.


On facebook, a group was made to "Moon the Balloon". Residence of formed a line, turned their backs to the U.S. border, drop their drawers, and point mooned Michigan.