In recent years, China has breached U.S. airspace with balloons on at least five separate occasions, said officials. U.S. radars have been recalibrated to look for slow-moving balloon-like objects.

Either way, the slow-moving balloon-like contraptions have captivated the country and become political fodder. First, there was the Chinese balloon that was initially spotted over Montana.

"While weather balloons can drift as far as 180 miles ... it is harder for the radar to spot. "Something slow moving that has very little metal in it will pop up on a regular radar as just ...