US balloon owned by Aerostar briefly became the most tracked aircraft in the world when FlightRadar24 users believed it to be alleged Chinese spy balloon
Thousands mistook a U.S. research balloon for the alleged Chinese spy balloon traversing the U.S., briefly making it the most tracked aircraft in the world.
FlightRadar24, an aircraft tracking website, had at least 4,000 individuals tracking the movements of the U.S. research balloon, many mistaking it for the infamous Chinese balloon that has dominated news cycles.
The U.S. research balloon, called HBAL617, is owned by South Dakota aeronautics company Aerostar.
FlightRadar24 published an update to the research balloon's tracking information, writing, "To provide additional clarity about what balloons are and are not visible on Flightradar24, we’ve updated our database entry for N257TH. N257TH is a standard high altitude research balloon, often released over the U.S. and is not the Chinese balloon."
"Sorry, this is not a Chinese balloon," the tracking information for the U.S. research balloon now states.
擊落那個原來不是講緊的那個？
