‘It was crazy:’ Saskatoon man watches missile strike Chinese spy balloon

On Saturday, a suspected Chinese spy balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina by the United States military — and Saskatoon resident Andrew Baum saw it happen.

Baum is attending a baseball academy in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Appearing on Gormley on Monday, Baum said he didn’t have an ordinary golf game on Saturday.

He had read about the suspected spy balloon online, and couldn’t believe it when he saw it floating right above him.

“I thought, ‘Oh, it’s (just) watching us play some golf,’ ” Baum said, adding the balloon appeared to be right over top of the green.

“Just about on the fourth tee, we saw that they were getting close, and the balloon had drifted out further.”

Baum said he saw the F-22 fighter jet shoot a missile at the balloon, and the firing created a “super-loud” noise.

“I don’t know how far away or actually how high up it was but you could hear it just super-clear,” he said.

At first, Baum said it took about 10 seconds for the missile to hit the balloon.

It was hard to tell what was going on, he explained, noting it looked like another plane with contrails behind it.

The impact didn’t create a fiery explosion a person would expect, according to Baum. Instead, he could see what almost looked like a white powder as the balloon disintegrated, as the rest of the balloon floated down slowly off the coast.

Baum described seeing the “sparkling of metal” in the air that was reflecting the sunlight, which he suspects could be the technology in the balloon.

Baum wasn’t the only witness to the explosion; he said there were also people on their balconies nearby watching the action, and cheering once the missile struck.

“It was crazy — something you’d never think you’d see,” he said.

The balloon’s trip across North America prompted Transport Canada to ask NAV Canada on Thursday to issue a Notice to Air Missions (NOTAM) to pilots travelling through airspace across Saskatchewan and Alberta.

A NOTAM is an advisory that contains information concerning the establishment, condition or change in any aeronautical facility, service, procedure or hazard that could disrupt travel.

Both the Regina and Saskatoon airports got the NOTAM, but it didn’t cause delays at either facility.