People living in southeast Wisconsin reported seeing a strange object floating in the sky Sunday.
“Whether it’s flying or floating, it was a UFO to us,” Jason Schodeberg, who saw the object in the sky from his front yard in Germantown, said.
Aerostar, an aerospace and defense company that has existed since the 1950s, identified the object as one of their “Thunderhead” balloons.
“It’s a new technology. It’s unique, so it does always raise interest,” said Russ Vanderwerff, vice president for stratospheric solutions at Aerostar.
The balloon, filled with helium and powered by the sun, can be controlled to move up and down in the stratosphere, following wind currents. It has various uses, including environmental research and establishing cell service in disaster zones.
“We worked last year with the U.S. Forest Service and NASA to do wildfire monitoring,” Vanderwerff said.
Aerostar also contracts with the federal Department of Defense. Vanderwerff addressed concerns about surveillance, stating, “It’s a warfighting mission. We’re trying to support what might happen, as with all defense companies. It’s not for usage in the United States.”
Aerostar said it has completed missions with NASA, Exxon Mobil and Google and conducted some research over a period of years.
The longest a Thunderhead balloon has ever been in the sky consecutively is 300 days.
This particular balloon is on a test run around the Midwest, Aerostar said. The mission is aimed at making it float farther and more efficiently. The balloon is not currently being utilized by any private company or government entity contracting with Aerostar.
That didn’t stop questions about the future of the technology, and its possible uses.
“I mean, we live in a scary, scary world these days. Is this some country taking some surveillance of us?” Schodeberg said.
Top Headlines
Milwaukee family mourns nursing student killed in strip mall shooting
St. Francis road buckles in extreme heat, police say
Summerfest attendees endure extreme heat
WATCH
READ MORE:
Aerospace balloon spotted in sky over southeast Wisconsin Sunday
CHECK OUT WISN:
Get the top Milwaukee news weather and sports. With the day’s biggest stories and ones you may have missed, our Wisconsin news team has you covered.
