On Friday the Tico Times reported about sightings of a large white balloon seen in several areas over Costa Rica.
Social media was being bombarded with posts of the object from several parts of the country.
One witness, a Tico Times contractor, contacted us Thursday. He said he saw his neighbors staring up into the sky. He went outside to see what they were looking at and saw the object hovering very high in the air. He was able to take a picture of the object.
The Pentagon was also tracking a similar object over the United States and suspected it was a Chinese surveillance aircraft. The Chinese government confirmed that the balloon was in fact theirs, but it was merely a weather balloon that had flown of course.
The Pentagon also said on Friday that they had detected a second similar object over “Latin America”. They did not release the location or its trajectory but a Pentagon spokesman stated that it was their belief that the second object was also a surveillance balloon of Chinese origin. The Chinese government has thus far not commented on the second balloon.
The balloon flying over the United States was shot down yesterday by a fighter jet. As a result the Chinese government has stated “it reserves the right to respond proportionally.”
Officials at the Costa Rica Civil Aviation Authority first believed that the object reported here was probably a locally launched weather balloon.
That theory was later retracted when it was discovered that no such balloons had been launched in Costa Rica since January 27th..
It was later confirmed that the balloon was “Not of Costa Rica origin.”
Local officials are unable to confirm the current location of the balloon nor where it came from. The have also stated that they have had no communication with U.S. authorities regarding the balloon.
It is unclear at this time why an aircraft of this nature would be flying over Costa Rica or what its intended destination may be.
