US military tracking mysterious balloon that flew into US airspace
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Another mysterious balloon has been spotted by the US military in American airspace — this time high in the sky off the coast of Hawaii, according to the Department of Defense.
It’s unclear who owns the balloon, but the object did not fly over any sensitive areas and poses no threat to national security, the DOD said.
The unidentified object traveled 36,000 feet above the coast of Hawaii and has been the military’s radar since Friday when it was detected by the DOD and Federal Aviation Administration, officials said.
The object could still be shot down if it comes close to US territory again, but at this point it appears to be slowly moving toward Mexico, officials told NBC News, which first reported the high-altitude balloon.
“Although it was flying at an altitude used by civil aviation, it posed no threat to civil aviation over Hawaii,” a DOD spokesperson said in a statement to The Post.
“Based on these observations, the Secretary of Defense concurred with the recommendation of his military commanders that no action need be taken against the balloon. The balloon is now out of Hawaii’s airspace and territorial waters.”
In early February, a Chinese spy balloon was shot down off the Carolina coast after traveling over the US.
The Chinese balloon was able to gather intelligence from several sensitive American military sites and sent the info back to Beijing, according to a previous NBC News report that cited multiple US officials.
Later in February, the military shot down three UFOs that were later deemed harmless and believed to be hobby or weather balloons not tied to any foreign country.
US officials do not believe the latest balloon spotted over Hawaii is Chinese property, NBC News reported Monday.
The DOD said in its statement officials do not believe the balloon was being controlled by a “foreign or adversarial actor” and does not have maneuvering capabilities.
