Fishermen off the coast of Alaska are returning to shore with a different sort of catch than they set out for.
According to CBS News, the boat is bringing a “pretty big balloon” in along with whatever else they may have pulled out of the sea on this voyage.
An unnamed “U.S. official” told CBS on Friday that the exact nature of the balloon had not yet been determined.
However, the official told the outlet that a number of photographs of the object had been taken and transmitted to authorities. Those photographs were still being examined, CBS said.
Authorities were said to be “concerned” that the item could be another spy balloon, according to CNN, which cited three unnamed sources.
The commercial fishing vessel, which CNN said it had not yet been able to identify, would be met this weekend by the FBI when it comes into port.
The FBI was expected to then transport the debris to its lab in Quantico, Virginia, for examination and analysis, as with previous surveillance balloons, the outlet noted, although ABC News stated that “no decision” had yet been made about where those materials might be taken, and that such a decision would not be made until local agents took a first look at it.
“The FBI is aware of debris found off the coast of Alaska by a commercial fishing vessel,” the FBI said in a statement quoted by ABC. “We will work with our partners to assist with the logistics of the debris recovery.”
Nothing was reported about the possible origins of the debris or where, precisely, it had been recovered, CBS said.
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Numerous outlets noted that, in the words of CNN, the “existence of high-altitude surveillance balloons burst into US consciousness last year” when a Chinese spy balloon was apparently blown off course and entered U.S. airspace over Alaska.
China claimed that the balloon was used for weather research and had simply blown off course, but U.S. officials said that China had conducted similar surveillance using high-altitude balloons at least 24 times “over at least five continents in recent years.”
Taiwan has since accused China of flying balloons over its territory on several occasions, though it had previously seemed that China had shuttered its program — at least temporarily — following the 2023 incident.
The U.S. military eventually shot down the errant balloon last year off the coast of South Carolina.
North American Aerospace Defense Command tracked another high-altitude balloon over the U.S. late last month, but ultimately determined that it was a “hobbyist balloon.”
All three of the sources who spoke to CNN “emphasized” that there was not yet even any certainty that what the fisherman had encountered was even a balloon, much less a surveillance balloon.
In fact, despite the number of anonymous sources who spoke with various media outlets, there was really only one fact about the object that was certain, other than its existence.
“The official stressed that the balloon was not shot down by the U.S. military,” CBS noted in its report.
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George Upper is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Western Journal and was a weekly co-host of “WJ Live,” powered by The Western Journal. He is currently a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. A former U.S. Army special operator, teacher and consultant, he is a lifetime member of the NRA and an active volunteer leader in his church. Born in Foxborough, Massachusetts, he has lived most of his life in central North Carolina.
George Upper, is the former editor-in-chief of The Western Journal and is now a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. He currently serves as the connections pastor at Awestruck Church in Greensboro, North Carolina. He is a former U.S. Army special operator, teacher, manager and consultant. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Foxborough High School before joining the Army and spending most of the next three years at Fort Bragg. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English as well as a Master’s in Business Administration, all from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He and his wife life only a short drive from his three children, their spouses and his grandchildren. He is a lifetime member of the NRA and in his spare time he shoots, reads a lot of Lawrence Block and John D. MacDonald, and watches Bruce Campbell movies. He is a fan of individual freedom, Tommy Bahama, fine-point G-2 pens and the Oxford comma.
