Another Possible Chinese Spy Balloon Detected by Latin American Country

A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Mont., on Feb. 1, 2023. Chase Doak via Reuters

Officials in Colombia confirmed a sighting of an airborne object similar to a balloon flying over its territory, although it’s not clear if it’s of Chinese origin.

In a statement Saturday as U.S. officials shot down a Chinese spy balloon near the Carolina coastline, the Colombian military said its air defense service “detected an object above 55,000 feet” that “entered Colombian airspace in the northern sector of the country,” according to a translation. The object, it said, was moving at a speed of about 25 knots per hour, or “characteristics similar to those of a balloon.”

The Colombian Air Force was deployed and it followed the object until it left the country’s airspace.

“It was possible to determine that this [object] did not represent a threat to national security and defense, as well as air safety,” the statement said.  Other details were not provided.

U.S. military officials recently said another Chinese balloon was spotted somewhere over Latin America but did not specify its location. No other official confirmation of unidentified balloons flying over other Latin American countries has been issued as of Sunday.

“We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America,” Pentagon spokesperson Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters last week. “We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon.”

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) did not comment on reports of a balloon flying over Latin America. The CCP had confirmed last week that the balloon flying over the U.S. belonged to China, but claimed that it was a civilian meteorological device that was blown off course—an assertion that was widely disputed by U.S. military officials.

In recent days, however, balloon sightings have been made in Venezuela and Costa Rica by multiple social media users. Twitter posts show what appears to be another balloon passing over both Venezuela and Colombia in recent days.

A U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft shoots down a Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast on Feb. 4, 2023. Jason Sellers via AP

A jet flies by a Chinese spy balloon as it floats off the coast in Surfside Beach, S.C., on Feb. 4, 2023. Randall Hill/Reuters