High-altitude balloon spotted floating above Northern Colorado

It was an unusual sight in the sky over Northern Colorado on Friday morning- a balloon floating above Longmont. It was spotted by the CBS News Colorado helicopter about 7:10 a.m.

What was that mysterious object floating with a backdrop of crystal-clear blue sky? After some research, CBS News Colorado discovered it was one of the Stratollite high-altitude balloon systems from World View Enterprises. According to the company's website, its mission is to lead "a new era of stratospheric exploration."

The company told CBS News Colorado that the balloon is often confused with a weather balloon and that "Ours is a more sophisticated stratospheric vehicle that can be remotely navigated to certain areas and stay aloft for days, weeks, months at a time."

The balloon was launched from Arizona last Saturday before it decided to take a trip into Colorado airspace this week. World View said the balloon is carrying a payload for NASA that measures solar radiation in the stratosphere above the 40th parallel. The mission could last up to two weeks.