Google Balloon Freaks Out Farmers in Colombia

Farmers in the central Tolima province in Colombia got a bit of a scare at the weekend when an internet balloon crashed into a field.

Residents say they were terrified when the object crashed, mistaking it for a UFO. “It was smoking and a strange liquid was leaking from it,” said a resident of the small town of San Luis, according to BBC News. “We all thought it was a UFO or the remains of a space craft,” locals told El Tiempo newspaper.

The object was identified as an internet balloon developed by X, a company originally founded by Google. The balloons are used to carry devices that relay internet signals to rural and remote areas.