UPDATE 12:13 a.m. Eastern: KTVQ in Billings reports:
Yellowstone County Sheriff Mike Linder said his office had received many calls but could find no reports of an explosion in the area. (Update 9:50 p.m. Linder said he made contact with [Dolly] Moore [who posted the video] and believes the video is real. He added that it’s difficult to determine what the video shows.)
Meanwhile, a Twitter user posted this:
Hmm 🤔 what the F is going on? #ChinaSpyBalloon #Billings #thisisnotamerica pic.twitter.com/gi7FVBbDp7
— Doña Claudia 🇺🇸 (@WhirlyGirl1200) February 4, 2023
She said it is a screenshot from a subscription-based flight-planning app called ForeFlight.
This story keeps getting curiouser and curiouser. My gut tells me that this wasn’t a shoot-down of the spy balloon. If it were, wouldn’t there be dozens, if not hundreds, of videos from Montana residents who’ve no doubt had their eyes trained on the skies over the last few days? The other problem, as I noted in the original story, is that the balloon was reportedly spotted in Missouri earlier today. Did the original balloon navigate back to Montana? Did the balloon hanging out in Canada cross the border into Montana? Or was this just a chemtrail that was mislabeled as an explosion? There are still many unanswered questions.
UPDATE 10:38 p.m. Eastern: In a pair of tweets, the City of Billings, Mont., says there’s nothing to see here:
We have confirmed with @MontanaDES & @GovGianforte that there have not been any explosions in, around, or across #Montana. They are aware of the video and it can not be substantiated. https://t.co/LDz0jyTC6g
— City of Billings (@BillingsMT) February 4, 2023
Montana Rep. Matt Rosendale doesn’t seem completely convinced.
I am still following all of these events closely and will keep Montanans informed as any new information becomes available. https://t.co/Ja9avfxt1J
— Matt Rosendale (@RepRosendale) February 4, 2023
I am genuinely concerned with the lack of transparency about the original Chinese Spy balloon and potential unexplained explosion above Billings. I have reached out to the Commanding Officer at Malmstrom Air Force base for details.
— Matt Rosendale (@RepRosendale) February 4, 2023
Original story:
Early in the evening, he tweeted that he was concerned about the lack of transparency related to the balloon.
There have been unconfirmed reports of an explosion in the skies over Billings, Mont., where a Chinese spy balloon had been hovering for several days. Although there have not been any official reports, there is speculation (not unfounded) that the U.S. military shot down the rogue balloon, the payload of which is the size of two to three school buses; the size of the balloon dwarfs that payload.
BREAKING — Montana Governor Greg Gianforte tells Fox’s Tucker Carlson he was just informed of a reported explosion in Billings, Montana. The governor says they are "monitoring the situation."
— Election Wizard 🇺🇸 (@ElectionWiz) February 4, 2023
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, who was appearing on Fox News when the story broke, told Tucker Carlson: “I was notified of it just minutes before we came on the air, and we’re monitoring the situation. I’m talking to our National Guard to find out if they have additional information.” He said he expects to be briefed on the situation in the next hour.
Here’s what the reported explosion looked like from a Billings, Mont., Twitter user’s vantage point:
Ok, so here’s what I just caught I few minutes ago out my window. I saw a jet go by so fast and then explosion in the sky. Holy crap! Billings MT. pic.twitter.com/swr8ERC6pf
— Dolly Moore (@MMtTreasures) February 4, 2023
She reported that she “saw a jet go by so fast and then [an] explosion in the sky.”
Another individual on Twitter claims that he also spotted the explosion and was prevented from searching for it by the National Guard:
I got a good photo of what fell out of the sky in Billings, Montana. Not sure if it was a balloon or some other explosion. Tried to go find it in my truck but was told to turn around by the National Guard blocking the road in a humvee. #Billings #explosion pic.twitter.com/wUxa99BJj3
— Chase (@Chase7601) February 4, 2023
There are also reports—again, unconfirmed—that there was a massive show of air power over Montana:
An aircraft with callsign SAM173 flew through right before the Montana explosion video was posted. This CRAFT is usually what transports high level gov or military officials
SAM173 WAS DUE WEST OF BILLINGS AT 6:45PM EST AND THE TWITTER VIDEO WAS POSTED AT 7:08PM pic.twitter.com/eMjEYFZYI2
— The Free Speech Forum (@TFSF_) February 4, 2023
🚨Update: Something strange happening in Montana as explosions reported by Fox News! Massive Air Mobilization to Montana? It has to be related the the Chinese Spy Balloon and the explosion right! More info to follow! pic.twitter.com/PYJHC0Ohg2
— US Civil Defense (@USCivilDefense4) February 4, 2023
There are also reports of a Blackhawk helicopter in the area:
#ChinaSpyBalloon two blackhawks over Billings #montana #explosion pic.twitter.com/ynb6XI0gxg
— Juan M Valverde (@JuanMVP) February 4, 2023
There were also unconfirmed reports of American fighter jets in the area, although some Twitter users are claiming the video is a hoax or an old video, or saying that what’s being called an explosion is merely a jet contrail. Others are speculating that it looks like the work of a surface-to-air missile. To my (admittedly untrained) eye, it looks similar to the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle in 1986. At this point, it’s impossible to draw any definite conclusions. We just don’t know enough at this point.
For our VIP members: SPY BALLOON-GATE: Beijing Biden Rears His Ugly Head
One problem with the story is that the balloon has reportedly been spotted in other states, including Missouri. Earlier today, a U.S. official said that the balloon was headed toward the Midwest and is now over “the middle of the country,” leading to speculation that there may be a second balloon. There are reportedly additional balloons hovering in Canada and Costa Rica.
China has admitted to owning the balloon but claims that it accidentally wandered into U.S. airspace.
Gianforte said that earlier in the week, he was not briefed by federal authorities until the balloon was “hundreds of miles into Montana. It had already flown near the [Malmstrom] Air Force Base and the ICBM silos.”
“When I finally got informed, it was over our most populous city [Billings],” he added. “It got spotted by a photographer at the airport.”
Part 1/2:
Montana Governor Greg Gianforte on White House failure to act on the balloon, that he did not receive a warning from federal authorities and discussion of explosion over Billings. pic.twitter.com/mrLEkIr5p6— me (@me15000) February 4, 2023
“If it was up to Montanans,” Gianforte said, “this thing would have been taken out of the sky the moment it entered our sovereign airspace. It clearly had been there a while. It’s not moving that fast.”
He said that in early briefings with the federal government, “they were contemplating taking it out of the sky. For whatever reason, they didn’t do that. Now, clearly, this went to the president’s desk. He was given options. For whatever reason, he chose not to act, and unfortunately, the result of that is that Americans are endangered and our enemies are emboldened.”
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