DENVER — Military planes have intercepted a balloon seen floating in the sky over Colorado and Utah Friday and determined it did not pose a threat.
NORAD Public Affairs said in a statement that it detected the balloon in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It was flying at an altitude varying between 43,000 and 45,000 feet.
NORAD fighters intercepted the "small" balloon over Utah and determined it was not maneuverable and did not present a threat to national security, the statement said.
The Colorado Springs-based agency said it would continue to track and monitor the balloon.
The FAA also determined the balloon posed no hazard to flight safety, according to the statement.
"NORAD remains in close coordination with the FAA to ensure flight safety," the statement said.
There has been heightened interest in reports of balloons flying over the U.S. after the military identified – and eventually shot down — a Chinese spy balloon that crossed much of the country last year. But officials say the balloon intercepted Friday was not sent by a foreign adversary and poses no threat to aviation or U.S. security. NORAD has not revealed where the balloon came from or why it was seen flying over Colorado and Utah.
U.S. officials last year shot down the large, white Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina after a weeklong traverse over the country that the Pentagon said was part of a large surveillance program China has been conducting for “several years." China responded that it reserved the right to “take further actions” and criticized the U.S. for “an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.”
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