Odd Object Over Arizona Not a UFO

From here in Phoenix yesterday afternoon I saw what looked to be a large, clear-plastic balloon in the sky.

The size of an object and its distance are both hard to gauge when it's high up in a cloudless sky, but this thing was not moving much, and if it were a regular child's balloon low in the sky, the wind would have carried it along swiftly. I guessed that it must be some sort of weather balloon way up there, even though I've never knowingly seen one before. I did not assume it was an alien UFO, but I did assume others might. After all, Phoenix is known for its UFO sightings.

But what do I know?

Apparently a lot of other people saw it, too, from both Arizona and New Mexico. Last night, the Arizona Republic reported that it was a 4,000-pound research balloon lofted by NASA from Fort Sumter, N.M., on Sunday. It landed near Kingman, Ariz. last night.

The NASA facility launches balloons that can be 400 feet in diameter and go up to 120,000 feet high.

The goofy solar-energy setup looks more alien than the balloon about to be launched by NASA from New Mexico in this 2007 test flight of the Sunrise project, designed to study the sun's magnetic field. Credit: NASA/Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility