An unusual balloon was observed drifting across the Denver metro area on Friday morning. Although its appearance might seem mysterious, the peculiar white-clear orb in the sky is not a mystery—it is a technological device similar to a weather balloon.
FOX31 viewers reported seeing the strange balloon in Johnstown early Friday morning. By around 7:20 a.m., SkyFOX had located it in Longmont. A close-up of the balloon, captured through a FOX31 viewer’s telescope, shows the balloon hovering in the sky over northeast Denver.
According to World View Enterprises, a space exploration and technology company, the balloon is one of their Stratollite balloons, which functions similarly to a weather balloon.
However, Phil Wocken from World View explained that unlike weather balloons, which burst at high altitudes, Stratollite balloons are designed to fly and go through in the stratosphere for extended periods, ranging from days to months.
Strange Ballon in Denver Metro SkyWocken stated that the balloon was launched from northern Arizona the previous Saturday and is currently “carrying a payload for NASA.” It is flying at an altitude of 73,000 feet, which is more than 30,000 feet above commercial air traffic.
In a post on X, the National Weather Service clarified that the balloon is not theirs and described it as a “research flight.”
Wocken explained that the balloon is studying solar radiation in the stratosphere. However, the technology has multiple applications, including tracking wildfires, storm systems, and greenhouse gases.
Based on its trajectory, Wocken anticipated that the balloon would remain over the Denver metro area for much of Friday morning before being carried southwest by the winds.