A number of people spotted what is believed to be a Chinese spy balloon in the sky over parts of Missouri and Kansas Friday. That balloon is being monitored by the Pentagon, and moved east over the Midwest Friday. According to the Associated Press, the U.S. has rejected China's claims that the balloon was not being used for surveillance, but that it was a weather research "airship" that had blown off course. Viewers looking up over northwestern Missouri, in DeKalb County, spotted what looked like that alleged Chinese spy balloon. Monica Perkins used a special 400mm lens to zoom in and capture images of the object, which passed over the DeKalb County area around 11:15 a.m. Friday. The National Weather Service office in Kansas City said it has also had several reports of a large balloon visible on the horizon, both in northwest Missouri and in the KC metro area. Officials tweeted they have confirmed that it was not an NWS weather balloon. According to CNN, the pilot of a Cessna Citation private jet spotted a "derelict balloon adrift" approximately 20 miles north of Kansas City International Airport as well.Missouri Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe called the sighting "deeply disturbing.""It is deeply disturbing that a Chinese spy balloon is flying over Missouri, the home of powerful military bases," Kehoe said in a statement on Twitter. "The fact that Missourians can see a surveillance object from a hostile nation from the ground is unacceptable."As for the Chinese spy balloon, the Associated Press reports the military has ruled out shooting the device down, citing potential risks to civilians on the ground. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said the balloon was flying at an altitude of about 60,000 feet, was maneuverable and had changed course. Discovery of the balloon was announced by Pentagon officials who said one of the places it was spotted was over the state of Montana, which is home to one of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.A senior defense official said the U.S. prepared fighter jets, including F-22s, to shoot down the balloon if ordered. The Pentagon ultimately recommended against it, noting that even as the balloon was over a sparsely populated area of Montana, its size would create a debris field large enough that it could have put people at risk.The official said the balloon was headed over the Montana missile fields, but the U.S. has assessed that it had only “limited” value in terms of providing intelligence China couldn’t obtain by other technologies, such as spy satellites.No word on if the balloon traveled over central Missouri where the Whiteman Air Force Base is located. U.S. Department of Defense statement on alleged Chinese spy balloon: Attributed to Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder:The United States Government has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now. The U.S. government, to include NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely. The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground. Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.