On Monday, Dagbladet was able to say that the Norwegian authorities have observed balloons of unknown origin over Norwegian territory.
It was Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram who confirmed this.
– A large number of weather balloons are released from most nations every single day. Most balloons of this type burst and fall after one to two hours. Nevertheless, it happens from time to time that balloons whose origin we do not know drift with the wind over Norwegian territory, says Gram to Dagbladet.
– This smells
Spyware
In recent weeks, sightings of several suspicious balloons over the United States and Canada have caused concern, and several of them have been shot down.
It has been suspected that the largest of them, according to US authorities the size of three buses, was a Chinese spy balloon.
The US State Department has stated that 40 countries are targets of China’s program of so-called spy balloons.
Dagbladet has asked the Minister of Defense if Norway is among these countries.
– Gets crazier and crazier
Not familiar with spy balloon
– Norway has a good intelligence dialogue with the USA. We do not want to go into individual elements in the conversations we have with them about intelligence issues, says Gram in a comment.
The Minister of Defense has previously said that Norway is not aware of balloons the size of the Chinese “spy balloon” in the USA having flown over Norwegian territory.
He says, however, that Norway is following closely, and will take action if the Norwegian Armed Forces and security authorities deem it necessary.
– It happens from time to time that balloons whose origin we do not know drift with the wind over Norwegian territory. In some cases, it is relevant to use resources to verify what is observed on the radar images.
Reacts: – Totally surreal
– Time to shoot down
Dagbladet has asked when the last observation of an unknown balloon over Norwegian territory took place, but the Minister of Defense will not answer.
– We do not want to comment on individual incidents, says Gram.
In the USA and Canada, at least four balloons have been shot down from the sky. Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram does not rule out doing the same here in Norway if it is deemed necessary.
– I am not aware that Norway has found it necessary to shoot down balloons, but this could be relevant, among other things, if they could pose a danger to air traffic, says Gram to Dagbladet.