The United States military is once again tracking a mysterious balloon flying over the country, but has not determined what it is or where it came from, three U.S. officials confirmed to NBC News on Monday (May 1).
The flying object was spotted in the skies over Hawaii, but didn't travel over any areas considered to be sensitive, according to the officials. The balloon has been tracked by the military since late last week and deemed to pose no threat to aerial traffic or national security as it has not communicated signals, one of the officials confirmed.
Officials haven't determined if the object is a weather balloon or something else, according to one official, who added that the military could still shoot it down if it appears to be on a path for landing. The object is suspected to be incapable of maneuverability as it continues on a slow path toward Mexico, according to officials.
U.S. officials don't suspect the balloon belongs to China, as was the case during a prior incident in February, but are still working to determine its owner. A spokesperson for the Pentagon issued a statement obtained by NBC News on Monday, which stated that the balloon was flying at 36,000 feet with “no indication that it was maneuvering or being controlled by a foreign or adversarial actor. The balloon did not transit directly over defense critical infrastructure or other U.S. Government sensitive sites, nor did it pose a military or physical threat to people on the ground.”
"U.S. Indo-Pacific Command responded to an unidentified radar signature Friday in the vicinity of the island of Hawaii," spokesman for Indo-Pacific Command said via NBC News. "Pacific Air Forces launched three F-22s to assess the situation and visually identified a spherical object. We monitored the transit of the object and assessed that it posed no threat."
A Chinese spy balloon flew over parts of the U.S. and gathered intelligence from multiple sensitive American military sites before being shot down by military officials off the Carolina coast in February.