Unconfirmed sightings of a Chinese spy balloon over the Carolinas

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – a huge high-altitude Chinese hot air balloon. sailed across the USA. on Friday, prompting strong accusations from the Pentagon of spying on secret military installations despite strong Chinese denials. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken abruptly canceled a high-stakes trip to Beijing aimed at easing tensions between the US and China.

WCNC Charlotte chief meteorologist Brad Panovich said the possible sighting happened over his home in the Charlotte area on Saturday morning.

Although sightings have not been confirmed, several WCNC Charlotte viewers say they saw it in the North Carolina skies.

Evan Fisher sent WCNC Charlotte a photo from Asheville, North Carolina on Saturday.

Do you have a photo or video of a possible hot air balloon sighting? Send a message to 704-329-3600, write to us at @wcncor upload it to our app

WLTX meteorologist Corey Smith spotted the balloon as a small white dot west of Waxhaw, North Carolina.

In addition to the government’s response, fuzzy videos surfaced on social media of people with binoculars and telephoto lenses trying to find the “spy ball” in the sky as it headed southeast over Kansas, Missouri and into the American southwest at an altitude of about 60 000 feet above sea level. sky.

Because there is no official way for the public to track the balloon, observers post likely sightings of the balloon on social media. To most, the hot air balloon appears to be just a slowly moving white dot in the sky.

While WCNC Charlotte cannot independently confirm any of these sightings as a potential sighting balloon from China, many of the sightings are repeated in the Saturday area and are similar to sightings earlier this week from other parts of the country.

Earlier this week, it was spotted over Montana, home to one of three siloed nuclear missile launchers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Defense Department officials said.

Later on Friday, the Pentagon confirmed reports of a second balloon flying over Latin America. “Now we are assessing that this is another Chinese reconnaissance balloon,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said in a statement, declining to provide further details, such as where he was seen.

The Associated Press contributed to this report