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U.S. Military Tracking Another Balloon

The US government is tracking a high-altitude balloon of unknown origin — and officials insist that it is not a security threat.

The balloon, flying at an altitude between 43,000 and 45,000 feet, was determined to be “not maneuverable” and poses no threat to national security, the North American Aerospace Defense Command told The Post on Friday.

The nation’s airspace watchdog described it as “small” and said its fighter jets intercepted the balloon over Utah.

“NORAD will continue to track and monitor the balloon,” the military agency said in a statement. “The FAA also determined the balloon posed no hazard to flight safety.”

The purpose of the balloon is unclear.

US officials told CBS News, which first reported on the balloon’s presence over US airspace, that it was flying over Colorado earlier on Friday and drifting in an easterly direction, following the path of the jetstream.

Its presence over the US mainland comes just over a year after US Air Force F-22 fighter jets shot down a Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast after it had traversed the continental US over the course of several days.

The craft made multiple passes over key US military installations before it was shot down.

President Biden described the Chinese balloon’s payload as “two boxcars full of spy equipment” and faced intense criticism from Republicans, who argued that it should’ve been brought down sooner.

Biden, 81, was also criticized for essentially absolving Chinese President Xi Jinping of responsibility for the incident.

The president claimed during a June 2023 fundraiser that Xi “didn’t know” the balloon was heading for the US.

“That wasn’t supposed to be going where it was. It was blown off course,” Biden said.

The Pentagon determined that the balloon did not transmit data back to China as it floated over the US, and said steps were taken to “mitigate the potential collection efforts.”

The incident led to Secretary of State Antony Blinken scrapping a planned visit to Beijing the week after the Feb. 4 shootdown. He eventually made the trip months later to smooth over relations.

Several other unidentified objects were shot down over the US and Canada in the weeks following the downing of the Chinese balloon.

Debris from those objects were never recovered, and Biden said they were not believed to be linked to China.

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