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Weather balloon in Ensdorf (Saarland): The German weather service alone releases balloons twice a day
Photo: Becker & Bredel / IMAGO
For fear of espionage, the US shot down unknown flying objects almost two weeks ago, including a balloon from China.
Estimates by Deutsche Flugsicherung (DFS) now show that there are countless balloons floating over Germany.
Around 15,000 unmanned balloons rise each year.
About half of them are weather balloons from the German Weather Service (DWD), the DWD announced.
The term weather balloon is actually wrong, said DWD spokesman Andreas Friedrich.
Because the balloon filled with helium itself does not take any measurements, it only transports a radiosonde into the high layers of air, the stratosphere.
The measuring device, which is attached with a rope and is about the size and weight of a smartphone, transmits readings such as air temperature and humidity to a weather station on the ground.
Most of the balloons come from children's parties
Twice a day, at 10:45 a.m. and 10:45 p.m., the balloons rise at a speed of around 18 kilometers per hour.
The expandable balloons are three to five meters high on the ground and up to 40 meters at the highest point.
After about an hour and a half, at an altitude of about 30 kilometers, the thin latex balloon bursts.
A parachute deploys and the probe descends to the ground.
A flight costs around 250 euros, and the DWD sends around 20 balloons into the air every day.
The probe is no longer needed and remains where it lands.
Depending on how strong the wind is blowing, the probe will land on Earth up to 300 kilometers from its starting point.
Aviation fans and geocachers often collected the probes to take home, Friedrich said.
Bundeswehr has no spy balloons
The German air traffic control knows little about the balloons.
They fly significantly higher than airplanes and therefore do not require clearance.
According to DFS, a large proportion of the balloons in German airspace are children's balloons, for example from birthday parties.
But are all balloons really harmless?
The Bundeswehr has no balloons in German airspace, a spokesman said.
Balloons are also not used for military purposes.
To the knowledge of the Bundeswehr, there are no foreign military balloons, such as spy balloons, over Germany.
The Bundeswehr can shoot down a balloon after legal clearance if it poses a military threat, the spokesman said.
koe/dpa