Democratic Republic of Congo —

A UFO found near the town of Buta in Bas-Uélé, DRC, on August 24, 2020.

The mysterious UFO that landed, scaring and confusing local residents is an internet balloon from Project Loon, a subsidiary of Alphabet. Loon is a network of stratospheric balloons designed to bring internet to rural communities around the world. Until Loon recently came forward local officials where perplexed by the device.

“I’m not able to say exactly what kind of device I observed,” Bas-Uélé Governor Valantin Senga told Reuters.

“What Intrigues us is that neither the intelligence services nor the local aviation authorities claim to have any information on the overflight of Congolese air space by this aircraft.”

The police detained two people that intended to search for the device, according to Senga.

Loon told outlets, “I can confirm that Loon exectuted a controlled landing of one of our stratospheric Balloons in this region. This landing was done in a safe and secure manner after coordinating with local air traffic control officials. This landing was specifically approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Per Loon’s landing procedures, a parachute deployed and the balloon was brought to the ground at a relative low speed in an isolated Area.”

This is not the first time a balloon from Loon has been mistaking for an extraterrestrial craft. In 2012, residents of Pike County, Ky., identified a Loon balloon as a UFO. It took a year for Google to claim device.

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