Air carrier X had near midair collision with unmanned WX balloon.

Attributes
ACN	282182
Time
Date	199409
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : jnc
State Reference	CO
Altitude	msl bound lower : 35000 msl bound upper : 35000
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	artcc : zdv
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	cruise other
Route In Use	enroute : direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Aircraft 2
Operator	other
Make Model Name	Balloon
Operating Under FAR Part	other : other
Flight Phase	climbout : intermediate altitude
Person 1
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : radar
Qualification	controller : radar
Experience	controller military : 3 controller radar : 24 controller supervisory : 1
ASRS Report	282182
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
Events
Anomaly	conflict : nmac other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : insufficient time
Consequence	faa : reviewed incident with flight crew
Miss Distance	horizontal : 200 vertical : 0

Narrative:

Air carrier X reported a balloon (presumed WX balloon) at his location and altitude. Are we going to wait until an aircraft collides with a balloon before we scrap the outdated system of gathering WX? Since most aircraft have inertial navigation system, they can provide better and more frequent information than WX balloons. I know that some communities will lose some money and perhaps a job or two, but let's try to improve the system before an accident happens. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter stated the flight crew reported they missed the balloon by 200 ft same altitude, on follow-up, the balloon was found to have been released from gjt WX station. Reporter stated the balloons are released twice a day for winds aloft reports. WX gets pilot reports of winds aloft from flcs via data link.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR X HAD NMAC WITH UNMANNED WX BALLOON.

Narrative: ACR X RPTED A BALLOON (PRESUMED WX BALLOON) AT HIS LOCATION AND ALT. ARE WE GOING TO WAIT UNTIL AN ACFT COLLIDES WITH A BALLOON BEFORE WE SCRAP THE OUTDATED SYS OF GATHERING WX? SINCE MOST ACFT HAVE INERTIAL NAV SYS, THEY CAN PROVIDE BETTER AND MORE FREQUENT INFO THAN WX BALLOONS. I KNOW THAT SOME COMMUNITIES WILL LOSE SOME MONEY AND PERHAPS A JOB OR TWO, BUT LET'S TRY TO IMPROVE THE SYS BEFORE AN ACCIDENT HAPPENS. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED THE FLC RPTED THEY MISSED THE BALLOON BY 200 FT SAME ALT, ON FOLLOW-UP, THE BALLOON WAS FOUND TO HAVE BEEN RELEASED FROM GJT WX STATION. RPTR STATED THE BALLOONS ARE RELEASED TWICE A DAY FOR WINDS ALOFT RPTS. WX GETS PLT RPTS OF WINDS ALOFT FROM FLCS VIA DATA LINK.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.