February 7, 2023 6:30 am

Officials in Japan and Taiwan Recall Strange Balloon Sightings, Now Eye China Connection

There was one sighting over a Taipei airport that doubles as a military base, a meteorological official told Taiwanese media.

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Chinese president Xi Jinping speaks in Beijing, China, 2017. Inset: A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Mt., February 1, 2023.

Nicolas Asfouri, Chase Doak/via Reuters

The saga of the high-altitude balloon believed to have been a Chinese surveillance device over America has renewed interest in similar incidents around the world — potentially explaining previous sightings of mysterious objects in the skies above Taiwan and Japan.

Officials in each country have variously called for, or announced the launch of, investigations into the incidents.