Earlier this year, the world was transfixed by the appearance of balloon-like objects looming over continental United States and other parts of the world. These unidentified flying objects caused such a fear and furor that many were tracked avidly, some disappeared magically and at least one was shot down by the US military.
These objects are poorly understood so an important role for researchers is to bring the steely eye of science to bear on the issue of what these things really are.
Now we have an answer thanks to the work of Michael Lund at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, a long-time editor and contributor to the journal Acta Prima Aprilia.