Listen: Pilots, air traffic controllers in KC area report suspected Chinese spy balloon
Audio recordings on Friday morning captured the discussion among Kansas City air traffic controllers and pilots about a suspected Chinese spy balloon spotted flying over region.
Air traffic controllers at Kansas City’s Air Route Traffic Control Center asked pilots to keep them posted if they saw the balloon, which was spotted over Montana on Thursday and had moved over the central U.S. by Friday morning. The Pentagon disclosed Friday that the balloon was floating across the center of the country.
“If you see it, let me know,” the air traffic controller said, according to audio recorded by LiveATC.Net shortly after 9 a.m.
“The one that’s been on the news?” a pilot responded.
“It is,” the air traffic controller replied back.
Pilots reported seeing the balloon. One reported that it was above and to the left of their aircraft.
“We’re going to pass to the east of it,” one pilot is heard telling air traffic controllers.
Meanwhile a pilot of an Alaskan Airlines flight reported seeing the flight.
“We got it in sight about 2 o’clock right over whatever this river is,” the pilot said.
Pilots were reporting that the balloon was soaring at or above 50,000 feet, which is higher than the altitude for most commercial airplanes. The balloon, however, may have made a sudden descent
“That object that we’re talking about that was at our 3 o’clock, about a minute and a half ago, I saw, the captain saw it dive about 20,000 feet in seconds and then it was below us. That’s what it appears now and to our 4 o’clock position.”
At the time, the balloon was said to be around 50 miles north of Kansas City. By later in the afternoon, it had drifted east across Missouri and was spotted over Columbia.
The balloon, which U.S. officials say is a surveillance vehicle, has quickly captured public fascination. Shooting it down has been ruled out as an option for now, officials have said, because of the potential risks to people on the ground.
Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, wouldn’t say if the military would shoot it down once it goes over a body of water.
The Star’s Jonathan Shorman contributed to this report.
