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Bottlecap Balloon Brigade - an Illinois hobby group - claims its $13 weather balloon last pinged near Yukon on February 10 - hours before F-22 brought down UFO in SAME area with $400k missile
By Lewis Pennock For Dailymail.Com21:52 16 Feb 2023, updated 12:53 17 Feb 2023- Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade reported one of its balloons 'missing in action' around the same time location jets downed an object over Alaska
- It's now suspected the object shot down using $400,000 Sidewinder missile may have been the group's balloon
- Hobby balloons cost as little as $12 and carry device that transmits their location
A mystery object shot down by U.S. fighter jets amid ongoing hysteria sparked by a Chinese spy balloon may have been a $12 inflatable launched by a hobby group in Illinois.
The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB) reported one of its balloons 'missing in action' around the same location - and at the time time - a U.S. Air Force jet downed an unidentified object near Alaska using a $400,000 Sidewinder missile.
NIBBB said its 'K9YO' balloon last reported its location shortly before 1am GMT on Saturday, February 11 (8pm EST on February 10), near the coast of southwest Alaska.
Later on Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared an 'unidentified object' was downed over Canada's Yukon territory, several hundred miles from K9YO's last known location.
Modeling shared by NIBBB shows its balloon was headed in the direction of Yukon before it vanished - and opens up the possibility it was one of the suspicious objects down by the U.S. military.
Members of the Northern Illinois Bolltlecap Balloon Brigade, whose balloon went missing near the area where an unidentified object was shot down by a fighter jet over Alaska
The hobby balloon's last known location over Alaska came several hours before a fighter jet downed an unknown object several hundred miles away over Canada. A map of the hobby balloon's predicted path indicates it was heading towards the site where the UFO was downed
An unidentified object shot down by U.S. fighter jets using a $400,000 Sidewinder missile could have been a balloon launched by an Illinois-based hobby group. It's been speculated the hobby group could have used the balloon pictured above, which can be bought for under $15
The Chinese spy balloon triggered a diplomatic crisis between Washington and Beijing - and the subsequent hysteria has led to at least three more unidentified objects being shot down
An F-22 (similar to the one pictured in this file photo) later shot down a 'cylindrical' metallic object over Mayo, Yukon
The object shot down by a a U.S. Air Force F-22 fighter jet over Mayo, Yukon, was variously described by officials in Canada and the U.S. as a 'cylindrical', metallic balloon with a payload.
Balloons used by hobby groups like NIBBB often fit the same description. They are usually attached with a small, solar-powered payload that transmits location data back to listening posts on the ground. Typically, these payloads are no larger than a credit card.
NIBBB has not said its balloon was definitely the downed object, but an overview of the circumstantial evidence by Aviation Week leaves the possibility wide open.
Far from posing a military or surveillance threat, the 'pico balloons' launched by hobby groups like NIBBB often do little more than relay location data - or, in some cases, information about the weather.
They float around until they're damaged or brought down by bad weather. K9YO was airborne for 123 days and 18 hours before it stopped reporting its location.
In that time, it circumnavigated the globe six times.
A model of the hobby balloon's projected path shows it was headed for Yukon, Canada, where an unidentified object was shot down. The balloon's last known location is marked by a star, while the red line shows its predicted path
A fighter jet flies near the remnants of the Chinese balloon after it was struck by a missile over the Atlantic Ocean, just off the South Carolina coast near Myrtle Beach, Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023
It's been speculated the balloon used for K9YO was a $13.33, silver 32-inch mylar balloon - mainly used for parties and celebrations, but sometimes by hobbyists for high-altitude flights.
Other hobbyists are also speculating that pico balloons could account for some of the mystery objects spotted over the U.S. since a Chinese spy balloon was detected earlier this month.
Ron Meadows, the founder of Scientific Balloon Solutions (SBS), which makes balloons used by hobbyists, told Aviation Week: 'I tried contacting our military and the FBI—and just got the runaround—to try to enlighten them on what a lot of these things probably are. And they're going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down.'
Tom Medlin, a host on the Amateur Radio Roundtable show, said the objects shot down were 'probably' pico balloons.
He said he uses a $12 foil balloon for his flights - matching the 'metallic' description of the Yukon object - and these can endure long periods of time at high altitudes.
The balloon shot down over Yukon was at an altitude of about 40,000 feet, officials said. The last known altitude of NIBBB's balloon was 37,928 ft.
President Joe Biden on Thursday admitted the Yukon object and two other mysterious aerial objects destroyed by U.S. warplanes since the China balloon incident were not thought to be surveillance vehicles.
'We don't yet know exactly what these three objects were, but nothing nothing right now suggests they were related to China's spy balloon programme, or they were surveillance vehicles from other any other country,' he said.
'The intelligence community's current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions, studying weather, or conducting other scientific research.'
Biden came under intense criticism for allowing the balloon to fly all across the U.S. before giving the order to shoot it down once it was off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4.
On February 10, an unidentified object was downed over Alaska. The Yukon incident came a day later, then a third UDO was shot down over Lake Huron in the Midwest on February 12.
Military officials and the White House have also not categorically ruled out aliens could be behind the recent UFO incursions.
National Security Council Coordinator Admiral John Kirby speaks at a White House Press Briefing following the U.S. downing of a number of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAPs), at the White House on February 13th, 2023 in Washington, DC
U.S. Navy sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 prepare to conduct a search for debris during recovery efforts for the remains of a high-altitude Chinese balloon shot down by the U.S. Air Force off the coast of South Carolina during salvage and investigation operations on February 7, 2023 in this image released by the U.S. Navy in Washington, U.S., February 13, 2023
The White House has announced it is putting together a new UFO task force to study the potential security risks posed by new airborne objects detected in US airspace.
The new group, created on orders from national security adviser Jake Sullivan, will see experts from the Pentagon, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies come together to analyze unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs) and determine whether they are a threat.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Monday said: 'Every element of the government will redouble their efforts to understand and mitigate these events,' adding the task force would examine the 'broader policy implications' related to the detection and analysis of UFOs over mainland US.
The announcement came just one day after a US air force F-16 fighter jet shot down a UFO over the Great Lakes - the third unidentified object to be downed in as many days.
The UFO narrative wasn't helped by Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of NORAD and US Northern Command, who wouldn't say aliens were off the table during a briefing Sunday night.
