Soon we’ll need to provide proof-of-age just to look up at the sky.

I feel like I've seen that same thing for 20, 30 years now, lol

You have. That airship's maiden voyage was in 2012. The US DoD has pretty much never stopped throwing a few dollars at airship projects. They want them as long term air reconnaissance assets, but now satellites are competitive for that.

Former Loring Air Force base in Limestone Maine has been the home of airship projects of various kinds since the 2000s. I got to see a few.