&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Mysterious balloon sightings in America spark fear that they are being watched - 'Not showing on...'")
Americans are reporting spotting balloons flying at extremely high altitudes, triggering fear that the spy vehicles are back in the skies. In 2023, a Chinese spy balloon was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina. It entered US airspace over Alaska in January and flew over a US military base in Montana before being shot down. The balloons are reportedly back to haunt Americans who have reported seeing them in Colorado, Arizona and Alabama, Daily Mail reported. People believe these are also surveillance balloons and could be bad news for the government. Residents in these states have posted pictures and videos of these balloons on social media, asking if someone can identify them. Speculations range from a regular American research operation to new Chinese spy balloons.
The latest sighting came two weeks ago in Arizona, where a mysterious balloon was seen flying over Lemmon. People posted pictures and videos of the balloon on social media. Some of them tried tracking it on flight monitoring apps but failed to find any data. "Not showing on Flightradar24, though, like others have in weeks past," a Reddit user posted. In June, multiple high-altitude balloons were seen over the Tucson and Sierra Vista areas for more than a week. People started panicking at the sight, wondering what the balloons were doing. According to witnesses, these balloons fly at over 60,000 feet.
Also Read: ET is not interested - Earth holds no appeal to aliens, NASA scientist puts forward 'boredom' theory
Most of these balloons turned out to be linked to the American government
Some of these balloons later turned out to be part of some American government programme. In Tucson, Arizona, similar balloons were seen several times. People thought that it was a spy balloon that was equipped with a "spy camera platform from China" and "transmitting military secrets in fast bursts." However, it was later revealed that one of them was part of a US military test. But this triggered debate over privacy evasion, with experts questioning what kind of data the American government was collecting.
One of the balloons seen in Boulder, Colorado, was identified as an Aerostar Thunderhead steerable balloon. A Reddit user explained that, "It's not just a weather balloon", but can carry "signal-gathering equipment, communications equipment, or other sensors." The company develops balloons for scientific research, telecommunications and military applications, and confirmed that some of the balloons belonged to them. While such balloons are common, scientists say, the general public is likely to fear them since they wouldn't know what they are.
