The balloon that flew in the sky over the US state of Hawaii posed no threat to the United States, a Pentagon spokesman told a TASS correspondent, Trend reports citing TASS.
According to the Defense Department, the balloon was detected on April 28 in the sky over the coast of Hawaii, it was at an altitude of about 11 km. "Ownership of the balloon is unknown, but there is no indication that it was maneuvering or being controlled by a foreign or adversarial actor. The balloon did not transit directly over defense critical infrastructure or other US Government sensitive sites, nor did it pose a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Although it was flying at an altitude used by civil aviation, it posed no threat to civil aviation over Hawaii," a Pentagon spokesman said.
According to him, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin agreed with the military command's recommendation that "no action need be taken against the balloon." The Defense Department pointed out that the balloon is now outside Hawaii's airspace and territorial waters. "We will continue to track the balloon with the FAA (the US Federal Aviation Administration - TASS)," the statement said.