The War ZoneThe balloon was supposedly called-out by the FAA as being roughly 600 miles east of Hawaii at between 40,000 and 50,000 feet.
Google EarthAccording to multiple reports, the FAA notified pilots of a sighting of a large white balloon at between 40,000 and 50,000 feet roughly 600 miles east of the Hawaiian Islands. Subsequent ACARS (Aircraft Communications, Addressing and Reporting System) messages show aircraft in the area — which is normally quite busy as it sits on the route from the U.S. west coast to Hawaii — acknowledging the alert, which includes a request to report back if they spot any such object.It’s unclear when the initial report of the balloon was made to FAA, but alerts about it appear to have been going out to pilots since at least 7:46 A.M. local time in Hawaii, or nearly 10 hours ago. The War Zone has reached out to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) to see if they are tracking the object or have scrambled fighter aircraft to inspect it. We have also reached out to the FAA to authenticate that there was indeed a balloon spotted as the ACARS messages to pilots refer to and to get more on the status of the ball …