1st Lt. Sam Eckholm/U.S. Air Force

Was an Illinois hobby group’s small radio balloon shot down by a f-22?

Did a superpower showdown provoke the U.S. into using a fighter jet to shoot down a hobbyist group’s research balloon in Canada? That’s the question the public — and the FBI — wants to answer, after the U.S. military shot down several unidentified airborne objects last weekend. A military spokesperson tells NPR it’s their understanding […]

NOEL CELIS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

China claims US air balloons are flying over their airspace

High-altitude balloons from the U.S. have overflown China’s airspace “more than 10 times” in the past year, a Chinese official said on Monday. Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said the U.S. balloons “illegally overflew Chinese airspace” without the approval of relevant government departments, without elaborating. U.S. dirigibles operating in the airspace […]