Strange balloon floats across the Denver metro sky

DENVER ( KDVR ) — An odd-looking balloon is floating across the Denver metro area on Friday morning. While it may look mysterious, the odd shaped white-clear orb in the sky isn’t a mystery – it’s a piece of technology similar to a weather balloon.

On Friday morning, FOX31 viewers reported a strange balloon in Johnstown. Around 7:20 a.m., SkyFOX tracked it down in Longmont. Here’s a close-up of the balloon, taken from a FOX31 viewer’s telescope:

According to World View Enterprises , a space exploration and technology company, the balloon is one of their Stratollite balloons, which is similar to a weather balloon. However, Phil Wocken with World View said weather balloons pop at high altitudes.

“This is a more sophisticated system that allows us to fly and navigate in the stratosphere for days, weeks and months at a time,” said Wocken.

Wocken said the balloon was launched across northern Arizona last Saturday and it’s “carrying a payload for NASA.”  It’s currently flying at 73,000 feet, which is over 30,000 feet above the commercial airspace.

In a post on X, the National Weather Service said the balloon does not belong to them and called it a “research flight.”

According to Wocken, the balloon is studying solar radiation in the stratosphere. However, the company said the technology can measure plenty of different variables such as tracking wildfires, storm systems and greenhouse gases.

Based on the trajectory, Wocken said the balloon will hang around the Denver metro for much of Friday morning before the winds will take the balloon southwest.

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