WASHINGTON — A weather balloon launched from Virginia caused quite a stir on the streets of Philadelphia over the weekend, activating the police bomb squad there.
Launched by the National Weather Service from Sterling, Virginia, on Saturday, the winds carried the weather balloon more than 90 miles Northeast before it popped and the attached parachute activated.
“We use them to take measurements of temperature, humidity, wind direction in the atmosphere,” says National Weather Service Senior Meteorologist Howard Silverman.
When someone saw the parachute carrying what’s called a radiosonde gently land on a car in the Northwest part of Philadelphia, they called the police.
A spokeswoman with the Philadelphia police says their bomb squad responded, but knew immediately there was no threat.
“Whatever goes up must come back down,” Silverman says.
Everyday the weather service launches two balloons from Sterling between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. and another sometime between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. The launches coincide with nearly 100 others.
“It’s coordinated to be at the very same time, everyday, across the world,” Silverman says.
There are dozens of balloons constantly floating above us, transmitting information back to the National Weather Service, but usually Silverman says, they land out of sight.
