Amateur hobby group in Illinois says balloon might've been shot down in Alaska
CHICAGO (CBS) -- President Biden mentioned private companies and research institutions while delivering remarks to the unidentified objects Thursday.
Now it seems some amateur balloonists based right here in the suburbs may be caught up in the military mess.
The Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade says one of its 32-inch pico balloons is missing in action.
The group's blog shows contact was lost over Alaska - the same day the U.S. military shot down that unidentified object in the same region.
However, in a statement, the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade said they have lost contact with the same balloon several times before, once for as long as 30 days. Their launches often take place at the Willow Hill Golf Course in Northbrook. They said there is no evidence yet that their balloon was the same object the Pentagon shot down over Alaska last week.
"As has been widely reported, no part of the object shot down by the US Air Force jet over the Yukon territory has been recovered. Until that happens and that object is confirmed to be an identifiable pico balloon, any assertions or claims that our ballon was involved in that incident are not supported by facts," the group wrote.
Nonetheless, the group said they have reason to believe their balloon was the object was shot down, because the location where it was last tracked seems to match the location where the balloon was shot down.
The group said their balloons are not a risk to the public, weighing less than a bird, but believe it was appropriate for the Pentagon to shoot it down if they didn't know what it was.
They also said they build and launch their balloons within federal regulations. The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade said their website has been overwhelmed since the unidentified object was shot down over Alaska, and they have had to turn off their comments.
Their missing balloon had been airborne for four months - circling the globe seven times before it went dark.
A pico balloon is a small mylar balloon equipped with trackers that can measure temperature, humidity, pressure, or wind currents.
"The purpose of it is from a hobby perspective, is to see how long and how far amateur radio operators can fly a balloon," said Jim Janiak, a member of the Bottlecap Balloon Brigade.
Does the group think it will definitively know if what was shot down over Alaska was their balloon?
"I don't think so," Janiak said, adding, "The balloons are so small that I seriously doubt that they're going to be able to recover anything to prove what it was."