The original item was published from July 18, 2022 9:03 AM to July 18, 2022 9:03 AM
Q. Why are there a pair of balloons over Laramie? This is not a problem but a question. The lower of the connected pair of white balloons is fully inflated, their elevation changes but their position seems controlled, and they have been over town at least during evenings of 15 and 16 July. It may be that I haven't been out at the right times otherwise. At 6:50 pm on 16 July, they seem to be over Washington Park. If there is a perfectly good explanation, I haven't heard it.
A. The City Manager's Office did a search and found the following: Per Wyoming NASA Space Grant Consortium (Facebook Posting from Friday, July 15, 2022): Laramites, if you happened to walk outside and look up today, you may have seen this white speck way up in the sky. What you saw was a giant high-altitude balloon at about 60,000 feet. It is currently on a 30-day floater mission, which began way down in Page, AZ, four or five days ago. The company operating the mission, World View Enterprises, has a crew in town monitoring the balloon. It should be over Laramie the rest of today and even tomorrow, so keep an eye to the sky.
Track the flight here: https://www.flightradar24.com/N137WV/2c9c5077
[Correction: World View is based out of Tucson, but this balloon was launched from Page, AZ]