The balloon over Colombia — China’s second airship
On the morning of Friday, February 3, 2023, the day the first Chinese balloon was crossing the United States, Colombia’s air-defence system detected an object “with characteristics similar to those of a balloon” in the north of the country at about 55,000 ft, moving at an average of 25 knots. The Colombian Air Force followed it until it left national airspace, said it posed no threat to national security or to aviation, and began working with other countries to establish its origin. Costa Rica also reported a balloon. The Pentagon said the same day that another suspected Chinese balloon was over Latin America, and later that these balloons were part of a fleet built for surveillance. On February 6 China confirmed the balloon was its own, calling it a civilian airship that, affected by the weather and with limited self-steering, had drifted into Latin American and Caribbean airspace.
Explanation
The Pentagon identified it as a second Chinese surveillance balloon; China said it was a civilian airship for flight tests that had strayed far off course because of the weather and its limited steering.
What was seen
Shape: An object with the characteristics of a balloon
Witnesses: Colombia’s national air-defence system; Costa Rican authorities
Duration: Until it left Colombian airspace
Sources
- Gulf Times / AFP — Colombia says object spotted overhead after Chinese balloon warning
- Boston Globe — another Chinese balloon flew over Latin America, China confirms