A woman in Montana recorded what would be an explosion in the skies over Billings on Friday that she believes is related to the sighting of an alleged Chinese spy balloon in the country.
Along with video of the event shared on Twitter, Dolly Moore, who lives near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Shiloh Road, shared that she saw a jet go by and then heard a noise like an explosion in the sky.
In the images, a loud noise is heard, but it is not detected where it is coming from.
The City of Billings indicated, late yesterday afternoon, through the same social network that it is aware of the video.
“We are aware of the video shared on Twitter and claims of a massive explosion over Billings. However, our Police Department, Fire Department & airport have not been called for any incidents related to this video and there have been no plane crashes detected on radar,” the City shared.
This Friday, the authorities in the United States declared that the supposed spy balloon was still flying over cities in the country and was heading towards the East.
Subsequently, the United States reported another of these devices supposedly flying over Latin America.
“We are seeing information from a balloon that is flying over Latin America. We now assess that it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said in a statement sent to the press.
At the same time, the Costa Rican newspaper La Nación published an article about a white flying object, which looked like a hot air balloon, over the country. Other reports indicate that the element had also been sighted by Venezuela.
Speaking to CNN, a senior Pentagon official indicated that the balloon sighted over Latin America does not appear to be heading for the US.
Montana is home to one of three nuclear missile silo fields on US soil. In the bordering states of North Dakota, to the east, and Wyoming, to the south, the balloons have also been detected.
Previously, Ryder indicated that the device did not pose a threat, but that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is monitoring its movements closely.
“Military commanders have assessed that there is no physical or military threat to the people on the surface,” the general said.
At the moment, the US has decided not to destroy the device because it does not pose an imminent danger and for fear that the fall of its debris on the surface is what is really damaging.
China has insisted that it is a civilian balloon used for research purposes, mainly meteorological. But, the US claims that it is a surveillance device.
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