• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Weatherboy

Weatherboy Weather News, Maps, RADAR, Satellite, and Forecasts.

  • Local
  • Earth Science News
  • RADAR
  • Current Warnings
  • Satellite
  • Current Maps
  • Forecast Maps
  • Video

Giant Spy Balloon from China Floating over Northern U.S., Forcing Airport & Airspace Closures

by Weatherboy Team Meteorologist - February 2, 2023

A giant balloon is seen in the sky over Montana; the inset shows a zoomed-in view of the inflated aircraft and some type of instrumentation it appears to be carrying. Image: KSVI-TV
A giant balloon is seen in the sky over Montana; the inset shows a zoomed-in view of the inflated aircraft and some type of instrumentation it appears to be carrying. Image: KSVI-TV



A giant “spy balloon” from China has been floating over the northern United States for the last few days, forcing the U.S. government to restrict airspace and close airports as the mysterious aircraft floats by. The Pentagon says the huge balloon is about the size of three large city buses. Images captured by television stations appear to show some large structure being carried by the balloon.

The Pentagon has been tracking a suspected Chinese spy balloon that has been flying over the United States but has decided it is too risky to shoot it down. Senior US military leaders considered shooting down the spy balloon over Montana, which is home to one of the nation’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base, but eventually recommended against it because of the potential safety risk from debris. Malmstrom is home to 150 intercontinental ballistic missile silos.

Defense Department sources say the military had prepared  fighter jets, including F-22s, to shoot down the balloon, but an order to do so never came in from the White House.

All air traffic at the Billings, Montana, Logan International Airport was placed on a temporary ground stop on Wednesday as the military provided options to the White House. Additional airspace and airport restrictions are possible as the balloon moves about.

Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Patrick Ryder provided a brief statement on the issue, saying the government continued to track the balloon. In the statement, Ryder said, that the balloon was “currently travelling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground”.

 

 

Primary Sidebar

Sponsored Ad

Search

Latest News

  • Incident Meteorologists Provide Additional Support at Special All-Hazard Events
  • Unseasonably Cold Air Surges South and East Triggering Warnings
  • 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season Storm Names Unveiled
  • NOAA Issues Spring Flood Outlook
  • Mid Atlantic Rocket “GO” For Launch Thursday
  • Out of Control Chinese Rocket Heads to Texas
  • Winter Storm Warnings, Wind Advisories, Flood Warnings Up as Nor’Easter Takes Shape
  • More than a Foot of Snow is Forecast for New Jersey to Massachusetts
About | Careers | Contact | Contests
Terms | Privacy | Ad Choices
Weatherboy is a (R) Registered Trademark of isarithm LLC, All Rights Reserved.
All content herein is Copyright by Isarithm LLC 1997-2022