- According to CNN, commercial fishermen have discovered an unusual object off the coast of Alaska and are bringing it to the FBI.
- Photos of the object show similarities to past surveillance balloons, the newspaper reported.
- The object will be further investigated once the ship arrives in port this weekend.
CNN reports that a group of commercial fishermen are on their way to deliver an object found off the coast of Alaska to the FBI.
The paper, citing three sources, said the object – which intelligence experts suspect may be another reconnaissance balloon – was located at Quantico after the ship arrived in port this weekend. It will be analyzed at an FBI laboratory, he said.
It's still unclear exactly what the fishermen found, but after seeing photos of the object, the FBI said it was similar enough to past surveillance balloons to warrant further observation. CNN reported that he thought so.
An FBI spokesperson told Business Insider that the FBI is aware of debris found off the coast of Alaska by commercial fishing vessels and will assist with the logistics of debris recovery.
Pentagon officials referred BI to the FBI.
On February 24, CBS reported that a hobby balloon was spotted over the western United States, and defense officials were on alert. CBS noted that before the balloon was identified, some military officials suspected it might be a surveillance device.
Early last year, the military shot down a high-altitude balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, after it drifted over the continental United States for a week.
It was later discovered that the device may have been a Chinese reconnaissance balloon equipped with a feature called “synthetic aperture radar,” which allows it to see objects in the dark or in clouds.
More balloons flew over Latin America last February, and were seen hovering over Hawaii in May.
During last year's incident, intelligence officials stressed that the balloon posed no “military or physical threat to people on the ground,” BI previously reported.
