Some Fisherman found in the open sea off the coastAlaskathe remains of a suspect Spy balloon. The unknown object or the rest of it will be handed over to the police.FBI as soon as the fishing vessel returns from its commercial activity. US authorities will take everything to a laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, to analyze the material, as was the case with previous caterpillar balloons. The message arrived at a certain point in time, about a week after North American Aerospace Defense Command had sent fighters to investigate another hot air balloon spotted in the sky Utah, only to later find out that the unwanted guest posed no threat to national security. But all of this follows a series of similar incidents last year, including the story of a Chinese spy balloon that crossed US airspace and was shot down off the coast of South Carolina days later.
The remains of the alleged spy balloon
Returning to the discovery in Alaska, CNN wrote that the fishermen shared photos of the object with authorities. It would not be clear from the pictures what object it could be. It may not even be a hot air balloon, although the FBI would have determined that what was found would be very similar to a surveillance balloon of one foreign government. Therefore, further investigation is required. The FBI did not provide detailed comments, saying only that it was “aware of the debris found by a commercial fishing vessel off the coast of Alaska” and was working with partners “to assist with the logistics of recovering the debris.” debris“.
The existence of hot air balloons is used for hypotheses Surveillance operations High Altitude came into the U.S. spotlight in 2023 when, as previously mentioned, a Chinese spy balloon somehow managed to fly through the American mainland. This unexpected guest had entered the United States territory directly through Alaskan airspace. Washington later concluded that the spy balloon was part of a huge air raid monitoring program led by the Chinese army. It appears that the balloon fleet has conducted at least two dozen missions on at least five continents in recent years, according to U.S. officials.
A risk to US security?
Potential threats to U.S. national security from hot air balloons and other lighter-than-air aircraft are nothing new. Between February 10 and 12, US warplanes shot down three objects flying in US and Canadian airspace. As the portal The War Zone pointed out, more than a year later, details about the above three murders are still limited and no images have been released so far.
Overall, regardless of what fishermen recovered off the coast of Alaska, the potential for balloons to pose real safety concerns remains. National security of countries. In particular, Chinese balloon operations continue in other parts of the world.
In recent months there has been an increase in these bizarre aircraft on and around the island Taiwan. In January, Taiwan's Defense Ministry reported that the situation had become a “serious threat” to aviation safety. Meanwhile, other countries, including Russia and the United States, continue to use various types of balloons and lighter-than-air aircraft for intelligence gathering and various military purposes.