Helena, Mont. – Larry Mayer, a photographer for the newspaper, pointed his camera to the sky on Wednesday and began taking pictures of what appeared to be a mysterious white sphere hanging over Billings, Mont.
He didn’t know what he was looking at, but he knew something was up high – very high, like 60,000 feet.
Mr Mayer, who works for The Billings Gazette and is also a pilot, said: “They closed the airport and didn’t let anyone land or take off, but didn’t say why.
By the next day, his photos had been published around the world and everyone in town was talking about what he had captured through his lens: a Chinese spy balloon , according to the Pentagon.
The hot air balloon, which Chinese authorities insist is a civilian vehicle designed for meteorological recording rather than reconnaissance, left the state on Friday. But the topic is still being talked about in Billings and throughout Montana, a state often associated with breathtaking natural beauty and ranching.
Some Montanans wonder why, in an age of high-tech spy satellites, China would send a balloon. “It’s weird,” Donna Pavlish said as she strolled in Billings on Friday. “It is worrisome.”
The Chinese government said the ship was never intended to fly over Montana but was deflected by westerly winds.
“It is interesting that something as low-tech as a hot air balloon is causing this international incident,” Ms. Pavlish said.
Others could not understand why the airship – a seated duck, or at least one gently drifting – was not simply brought down by the Air Force. US officials said the Pentagon sent F-22 fighter jets to track the balloon on Wednesday, but decided not to fire at it because of concerns about debris falling across the vast state, where inhabited by one million people.
In a country where deer shotguns are common in the back of a pickup truck, some people joke about doing it themselves.
“I saw it, and it should have been shot,” said Billy Norris, a chef at Dickey’s Barbecue Pit in downtown Billings. “It’s a spy balloon, and it shouldn’t be flying over America.”
Billings Mayor Bill Cole will also be photographed.
“I’m no expert, but I can’t see why the government didn’t shoot that thing down,” he said. “Montana has only seven people per square mile. The chance of hitting anyone is less than the chance of winning the Powerball.”
“I’m more worried about cattle,” he added. “Montana has twice as many cattle as people, and a cow is much bigger.”
For some, the issue is not whether the hot air balloon should linger in Montana, but why it was allowed to fly there in the first place. The state has Malmstrom Air Force Base and 150 bunkers for intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Chet Cole, who works at Marble Table restaurant in Billings, said: “We should have taken care of our security much better. “If a hot air balloon can fly that far to Montana, it means someone is not doing a good job with regard to national security.”
And if anyone in Montana has had the experience of dealing with unexpected visitors from above, or at least pretending to, it’s Bill Pullman, the Montana cattle rancher, known to many for his actor who played the president in the 1996 alien invasion film “Independence Day.”
“It’s been a wake-up call for me and probably for a lot of people in Montana,” Mr Pullman said on Friday. “The state may feel too remote to be dangerous in the event of war, but in reality it could very well be the front line of a first nuclear strike. Fortunately, I think most Montanans have the restraint to keep things like unruly horses and hovering hot air balloons from causing serious accidents.”
Brian Schweitzer, the former governor of Montana, said he understands people’s concerns. “In Montana, we don’t like people peeking through our fences,” he said.
But he said he found it hard to believe that China was spying on missile silos. “I grew up on a small farm a mile from an intercontinental rocket,” he said. While the rockets are underground and not visible, you can drive to the facility and take pictures, said Mr. Schweitzer. “Renting a car is a lot cheaper than sending a hot air balloon from Beijing,” he said.
Hot air balloons were no longer a direct concern for Montana on Friday, having traveled hundreds of miles east to Missouri.
Jordan Bush, who works as a defense contractor near Kansas City, was leaving work a little after 10 a.m. to pick up his car from a repair shop when the balloon was discovered.
Mr. Bush is a hot air balloon enthusiast — “Yes, this is my alley,” he said — and has watched prevailing winds in anticipation of the hot air balloon heading east.
“Personally, I’m a bit worried,” he said of the balloon, adding that he suspects it came by accident.
In Columbia, Mo., 30-year-old Jacob Ennis was taking out his trash at home when he looked up and saw a balloon.
“That’s pretty obvious,” he said. “Looks like it’s a little closer than I thought. It’s just a big white ball in the sky.”
Ennis had heard the balloon was in the Kansas City area, about a two-hour drive west, but he said he wasn’t really looking for it. “It’s definitely remarkable,” he said. “It’s very interesting. It’s a bit ominous to know it’s a foreign government surveillance device.”
Mr. Ennis said he was outside for about 10 to 15 minutes watching the balloon and taking photos and videos on his mobile phone, which he posted on Twitter. It was still in view when he turned inside.
Jenna Fisher Reporting contributions from St. Louis.
