Balloon That Flew over Hawaii Posed No Threat to US, Says Pentagon

According to the Defense Department, the balloon was detected on April 28 in the sky over the coast of Hawaii, it was at an altitude of about 11 km.

"Ownership of the balloon is unknown, but there is no indication that it was maneuvering or being controlled by a foreign or adversarial actor, the spokesman told a TASS correspondent.

"The balloon did not transit directly over defense critical infrastructure or other US Government sensitive sites, nor did it pose a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Although it was flying at an altitude used by civil aviation, it posed no threat to civil aviation over Hawaii," he added.

According to him, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin agreed with the military command's recommendation that "no action need be taken against the balloon." The Defense Department pointed out that the balloon is now outside Hawaii's airspace and territorial waters. "We will continue to track the balloon with the FAA (the US Federal Aviation Administration)," the statement said.

As NBC earlier reported, the US administration believes that the balloon does not belong to China, its origin is now being established. According to the channel’s sources, the balloon had flown over parts of Hawaii without approaching sensitive sites. At present, according to NBC, the balloon is slowly heading toward Mexico.

In early February, US authorities said they had detected a Chinese balloon above the continental part of the country at an altitude well above standard parameters for commercial air travel. It posed no threat to people on the ground. On February 4, this balloon was shot down by a missile within US airspace.

According to the Washington administration, China was using this vehicle to gather important information. The Chinese Foreign Ministry protested. Beijing explained that the Chinese weather balloon ended up in US airspace by accident.