The silvery orb spotted over Billings that shut down air traffic and brought fighter jets, AWACS and air tankers to the area on Wednesday afternoon is suspected to be a Chinese spy balloon, according to a source who spoke to NBC News.
“The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told NBC News. “We continue to track and monitor it closely.”
“Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information,” Ryder said.
Word of something unusual in the skies over Billings first spread Wednesday afternoon when a "ground stop" was placed on regional airports, including Billings. No flights, including commercial air traffic, could land or depart in a 50-mile radius that included the Billings airport.
