Pentagon tracks high-altitude surveillance balloon in US airspace

The United States Department of Defense said on Thursday, February 2nd, it had detected and was tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon in US airspace.

The Pentagon said the balloon was traveling well above commercial air traffic and did not "present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.

“Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years,” the Pentagon said. “Once the balloon was detected, the [US] government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”

Credit: John Martin via Storyful