Page 234 - Patrick Ryder News Today

The mysterious ballon was being monitored by the Pentagon.

China's foreign ministry described the balloon as "a civilian airship" for meteorological research that had blown far off course by winds. The Pentagon suspects it's collecting sensitive information.

The mysterious ballon was being monitored by the Pentagon.

The mysterious ballon was being monitored by the Pentagon.

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that a balloon the U.S. suspects of conducting surveillance was a civilian “airship” used for research, mainly meteorological purposes.

One of the places the balloon was spotted was Montana, which is home to one of the nation’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base. The Pentagon decided not to shoot down the balloon.

(NEW YORK) -- A massive spy balloon believed to be from China was seen above Montana and is being tracked as it flies across the continental United States. "The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is flying over the continental United States right now," Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder

Defense officials say the balloon does not pose a military or physical threat, and shooting it down could injure civilians.

NOAA modeling predicts that the balloon will be somewhere over southeast Missouri by 7 a.m. ET on Saturday, traveling across several central U.S. states.

China, US tensions rise over suspected Chinese spy balloon By EMILY WANG FUJIYAMA, TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR Associated Press BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. was