The North American Aerospace Defense Command sent fighter jets to intercept a high-altitude balloon over Utah on Friday, and the balloon was on a course that would take it over Kansas.
NORAD officials said the balloon was not maneuverable and did not pose a threat to national security. The balloon was drifting east in the jetstream at a height of about 40,000 feet. Officials said the balloon was not sent by a foreign adversary and was not considered a threat to aviation. There was no word on where the balloon came from or what its purpose was, but it was believed to be a hobby balloon.
The balloon was drifting over Colorado and it went over Georgia on Friday night, then it moved on out of U.S. air space.
The U.S. shot down a Chinese spy balloon last year after it flew across the Midwest and the South. The Pentagon said that balloon was part of a surveillance program that China had been operating for several years.
[ photo: NORAD – Facebook ]
