"Pentagon Monitors Unidentified High-Altitude Balloon Over Western US"

The US military is monitoring an unidentified "small" balloon flying at high altitudes over the west, with a fighter aircraft sent to observe it over Utah. The balloon, hovering at 43,000 to 45,000 feet, is not seen as a national security threat and is not believed to be from a foreign government. NORAD will continue to track and monitor the balloon, and the FAA has determined it poses no hazard to flight safety. This comes roughly a year after the US shot down a Chinese surveillance balloon, which the Chinese government claimed was a civilian airship used for meteorological research.