A white balloon was reportedly spotted flying close to Hawaii, just weeks after the U.S. military shot down a Chinese spy balloon near South Carolina and three other unidentified objects this month.
The Oakland Oceanic Air Traffic Control Center on Feb. 19 reported seeing a large white balloon over the Pacific Ocean, according to the media organization
BNO News. The object is said to have been spotted about 955 kilometers (594 miles) northeast of Honolulu. In a message to pilots, the air traffic control said that the balloon was flying at an altitude of about 12,000 to 15,000 meters (40,000 to 50,000 feet) and asked them to report if they spotted the object.
The coordinates mentioned would place the balloon in international airspace, although in a region where air traffic control is handled by the United States, the outlet added.
“Some Commercial Flights flying through the area have reported through [Aircraft Communication Addressing and Reporting System] seeing the Large white Balloon at an altitude between FL400 to FL500,” a Feb. 20
tweet by FL360 Aero, an aviation news media outlet, reads.
In February 2022, an object was spotted while floating in the vicinity of Hawaiian islands over Kauai. In a
tweet from Feb. 17, 2022, Kenneth S. Hara, adjunct general for the state of Hawaii, said that the Pacific Air Forces launched “tactical aircraft to intercept and identify the object.”
The object was confirmed to be an unmanned balloon. Kauai is home to the Pacific Missile Range Facility, which is the largest multi-dimensional testing and training missile range in the world.
On Feb. 4, 2023, an American aircraft brought down a Chinese spy balloon that was traveling near the coast of South Carolina. The balloon had triggered tensions between Washington and Beijing, with the Secretary of State canceling his trip to China.
The Chinese spy balloon is said to have traveled nearby to at least three vital nuclear sites in the United States. They include the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, which is home to the U.S. Strategic Command; Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana overseeing 150 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile silos; and Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, which operates the Air Force’s B-2 bomber.
Shooting Down Objects
Since the Feb. 4 incident, the United States has shot down multiple unidentified objects, although the nature of those objects hasn’t been fully identified.On Feb. 11, the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB) reported that it had lost contact with a hobby balloon. On the same day, the U.S. military shot down an unidentified object in the general vicinity at an altitude of 40,000 feet.
The military used a $400,000 missile to shoot down the object. The NIBBB’s hobby balloon reportedly cost only $12. When asked for more details about the unidentified object it shot down, the Department of Defense
said in an email that it has “nothing to provide on this.”
Two more unidentified objects were shot down by the military using $400,000 missiles. In total, four missiles were used to bring down the three unidentified objects, costing in total more than $1.6 million. The military action against the unidentified objects attracted ridicule online.
“Biden let an actual Chinese spy balloon cross 2,000 miles of American airspace untouched. Now he fakes being tough by shooting down a $12 science project from the (I kid you not) Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade,” Charlie Kirk, founder of nonprofit conservative organization Turning Point USA, wrote in a Feb. 17
tweet.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote in another
tweet, “To be fair, Biden is providing is powerful deterrence for any high school science clubs that might try to invade America.”
