On Saturday, January 28, 2023, a Chinese air balloon was spotted over Billings, Montana. One week later it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina. An F-22 fighter jet fired the missile used to shoot down the balloon. By then, the balloon had floated over Alaska, Canada, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina and finally South Carolina where it was shot down over the ocean to minimize risk from falling debris.

The US Coast Guard and Navy searched off the coast of South Carolina for the fallen balloon. The Navy managed to find what was left of the balloon. Some parts were destroyed, but the antenna was recovered from the ocean bottom. China claims the balloon was an off-course weather balloon. The United States denies this and says it was collecting data and thus spying.

In the following week, three more flying objects were shot down over the United States and Canada. President Biden now revealed that the flying objects shot down by the U.S. Air Force were probably harmless. Now, the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade says they believe their $12 research balloon was shot down over Alaska by a $400,000 missile. The club tracks their balloons floating around the world with solar-powered GPS technology. The balloon apparently shot down over Alaska was named K9YO-15, which disappeared on February 10th.