US Senators Introduce Legislation to Track, Identify High-Altitude Balloons

Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon that was downed by the United States over the weekend over U.S. territorial waters off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Feb. 5, 2023. U.S. Fleet Forces/U.S. Navy photo/Handout via Reuters

U.S. Sens. Ted Budd (R-N.C.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) introduced legislation on March 15 that would enable the government to monitor and identify high-altitude balloons operating in the nation’s airspace.

Budd and Kelly put forth the SOAR Act following a flurry of U.S. military interventions last month with flying objects in the skies above the nation. (SOAR Act is the short form of Seeing Objects at Altitude Regularly Act.)