On Sunday afternoon, a “huge white balloon” was reportedly seen by pilots on their radars just east of Oahu.
According to The Sun, a number of reports indicate that the item was seen over Honolulu.
It happens only a few days after US authorities said that a Chinese “spy” balloon bound for Hawaii had been blown off track.
According to several social media posts, pilots noticed a “huge white balloon” at a height of around 50,000 feet.
The identify of the item and the possible harm it presents to the public are unclear, thus Air Traffic Control and other US agencies have not yet validated such allegations.
An photograph that has been shared on social media online seems to show a pilot carrying a message in the cockpit.
Report of a big white balloon around 2639N 15021W. estimated to be in the FL400–FL500 range. Unknown altitude exact. If an item is spotted, notify ATC.
The flying item was verified to exist by Oakland Oceanic Air Traffic Control Center, which also reported that the balloon was over the Pacific Ocean 600 miles northeast of Honolulu.
Earlier this month, the US military fired down a number of balloons, including one that was thought to be a Chinese surveillance balloon on February 4 off the coast of South Carolina.
In response to the high-stakes drama that was sparked by the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon transiting the nation, Joe Biden said on Thursday that the United States is upgrading its policies for monitoring and responding to unexpected aerial objects.
Three smaller balloons were shot down by the United States a few days later, off the coast of South Carolina.
Biden said authorities believe the three other balloons were regular balloons, which might indicate they were utilized for commercial, scientific, recreational, or meteorological reasons.
None of the three balloons’ remnants have been found, and the U.S. military said late Friday that it has given up looking for the things that were shot down on February 10 and 12 over Lake Huron and close to Deadhorse, Alaska.
According to authorities, “the U.S. military, federal agencies, and Canadian allies performed comprehensive searches of each region utilizing a range of capabilities, including aircraft images and sensors, surface sensors and inspections, and subsurface scans, and did not discover debris.”
The U.S. military has said that it thinks it has recovered all of the Chinese balloon’s critical sensors and electronics, as well as significant portions of its construction, in the South Carolina incident.
The balloon spent a week soaring above the United States and Canada before being shot down off the Atlantic Coast on Biden’s instructions, despite Beijing’s denials that it was a government surveillance craft.
»Hhuge white balloon’ is seen at 50,000 feet over Hawaii, according to aircraft radars«