By India Today World Desk: A mysterious high-altitude balloon was seen off the coast of Hawaii over the weekend, months after a Chinese spy balloon was sighted in US airspace and shot down, officers said.
The US navy on Monday (native time) said it is monitoring the balloon, whose proprietor stays unknown. It was detected and seen floating at roughly 36,000 ft above the Pacific on April 28, CBS data reported.
The US Air Force scrambled three F-22 Raptor stealth fighters to intercept the high-altitude balloon sooner than concluding that “it posed no threat”, the US Indo-Pacific Command said in an announcement.
There have been no indications that the balloon was being maneuvered or managed by any worldwide actor. The object did not cross over delicate areas, did not pose a menace to navy and folk on the underside, and did not disrupt air website guests over Hawaii, consistent with officers.
A Defence Department spokesperson said Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin agreed with the navy commanders’ recommendation on not taking movement in direction of the balloon. However, the US navy and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are nonetheless monitoring it, the spokesperson added.
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According to an official, the balloon simply is not present in Hawaii airspace and is exterior of US territorial waters.
The sighting of the factor received right here after a Chinese spy balloon transvered US earlier this yr sooner than it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina. The incident led to a diplomatic confrontation with Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelling his deliberate go to to China.
Earlier this yr, three objects have been shot down over Canada and the US, nonetheless have been on no account found. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby had said that Washington did not uncover that the objects have been sending communication indicators sooner than being shot down. President Joe Biden had remarked the three objects weren’t believed to belong to China’s surveillance balloon programme.
The Defence Department and FAA established a model new framework for monitoring US airspace following the sooner incident of three objects being detected.
