The balloon that flew over Hawaii? US says it's not China's
Source: Associated Press
The balloon that flew over Hawaii? US says it’s not China’s
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
May 2, 2023
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Defense Department and the Federal Aviation Administration have been tracking a balloon that was flying off the coast of Hawaii last week, but a defense official said Tuesday there’s no indication it is connected to China or any other adversary, and it presents no threats to aviation or national security.
The balloon was first detected by radar on Friday and “Pacific Air Forces launched three F-22s to assess the situation and visually identified a spherical object,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said. “We monitored the transit of the object and assessed that it posed no threat.”
The defense official said the balloon was floating at about 36,000 feet (11,000 meters), and it did not fly over any critical defense infrastructure or sensitive sites. After determining that the balloon presented no threat to people on the ground or to aviation over Hawaii, the military took no action to bring it down, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations.
It’s not clear who owns the balloon, which has now passed out of Hawaii’s airspace, the official said.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/balloon-hawaii-pentagon-tracking-741d9bd27f76d3f1082f9783c91e9219