I didn't know that myself, good to keep in mind.
From a lurker in Minneapolis. An interesting story:
http://wcco.com/localnews/local_story_232202348.html
WCCO: Unknown Object Hovering In St. Paul Sky
Aug 19, 2004 7:21 pm US/Central
St. Paul (AP) There's an unknown object hovering in the sky over the
Twin Cities, and it doesn't appear to be a bird or a plane.
Meteorologist Tony Zaleski of the National Weather Service in Chanhassen
says the white object appears to be higher than the white, whispy cirrus
clouds, which means it's probably higher than 30,000 feet.
Although the object looked like it might be rotating, it doesn't appear
to be going anywhere. Zaleski says that probably would rule out a
satellite.
- - - - - - -
http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/4938203.html
Last update: August 20, 2004 at 12:21 AM
No one's claiming that dot you see way up there
August 20, 2004 BALLOON0820
The truth isn't the only elusive thing out there.
In fact, whatever was floating over the Twin Cities area Thursday
afternoon was so far out there that nobody knew definitively what it
was, and by nightfall it still was unclaimed.
A white -- or silver by some accounts -- dot in the sky had residents
and police calling the National Weather Service office in Chanhassen,
asking if they had launched the elusive "it."
Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman Patrick Hogan also got calls
from reporters hunting for clues.
"It's got nothing to do with us," Hogan said with a laugh. Federal
Aviation Administration officials told airport folks that they thought
it was a weather balloon.
But Weather Service meteorologists weren't claiming it.
"It's not ours, either," said meteorologist Rick Hiltbrand.
The Weather Service launches its tan balloons at 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.
daily. They are used to record temperature, barometric pressure and
humidity.
They can reach heights of 100,000 feet and float for two hours before
losing pressure and exploding, Hiltbrand said.
The truth is still out there. Somewhere.