US Defense Department Is Tracking Another High-Altitude Balloon

The U.S. Defense Department is keeping tabs on another mysterious high-altitude balloon that recently sailed above American territory.

Three U.S. officials told NBC News that the balloon traveled over parts of Hawaii but not on any sensitive areas. The officials added it was still unclear to whom it belongs or what it is.

After seeing the object late last week, the U.S. military has since been tracking it but determined that it poses no threat to air traffic or national security and is not sending out any signals.

An official said whether the object was a weather balloon was unclear, but the U.S. could bring it down if it went near any land.

According to the officials, the object does not seem maneuverable and is slowly moving toward Mexico. American authorities have not yet determined who owns the balloon but do not suspect it belongs to the Chinese.

No Action Needed Against Mysterious High-Altitude Balloon

According to CBS News, the high balloon was spotted flying over the Pacific at about 36,000 feet on April 28. A U.S. official has confirmed that the object has left Hawaii's airspace and is no longer over American waters as of Monday.

Thus, U.S. Defense Department Secretary Lloyd Austin concurred with the suggestion of his military officers that no action was necessary. However, the U.S. military and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are still monitoring the object.

More High-Altitude Balloons or UFOs

The U.S. military shot down another unidentified flying object (UFO) over Lake Huron in Michigan on February 12, making it the fourth time an unidentified flying object was shot down in North America since February 4.

The object appeared to be the same flying object detected over Montana a day earlier. In a statement, Lt. Col. Cesar Santiago previously said the location chosen for this shootdown allowed them to avoid impact on people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery, Fox News reported.

Santiago went on to say that there were no civilians hurt or affected. The U.S. Defense Department noted that President Joe Biden directed to shoot down the airborne object flying around 20,000 feet over Lake Huron. The department said the path and altitude caused concerns such as a possible threat to civil aviation.

On February 10, a U.S. F-22 fighter jet shot down a "high-altitude object" over Alaska. Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said the object "roughly the size of a small car" was shot down over the northwestern state of Alaska near Deadhorse.

Ryder noted that the flying object, which entered U.S. airspace on February 9, was brought down using an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile fired from the jet on the order of Biden.

White House spokesperson John Kirby previously told reporters that they don't know "who owns this object," adding that many details about the "high-altitude object" were unknown.

On February 11, a U.S. F-22 jet, acting on U.S. and Canadian orders, shot down a "high-altitude airborne object" over central Yukon territory in Canada, about 100 miles from the U.S. border, saying it posed a threat to civilian flights.

The second and third unidentified flying objects were reportedly about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. The Chinese spy balloon had stayed above the U.S. for a week before the U.S. shot it down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4.

China earlier claimed that the balloon was just a weather research "airship" blown off course, which the Pentagon rejected. The Pentagon also rejected China's contention that the balloon was a civilian device not being used for surveillance and had limited navigational ability.

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Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Military Tracking Another Mysterious Balloon, Says it Poses no Threat - From MSNBC