Slashdot reader joshuark shares this report from SFGate: *The mystery object that struck a plane at 36,000 feet is likely not space debris, as some speculated, but rather a Silicon Valley test project gone wrong...

WindBorne Systems, a Palo Alto startup that uses atmospheric balloons to collect weather data for AI-based forecast models,has come forward to say that they believe they may be responsible for the object that hit the windshield... “At 6am PT, we sent our preliminary investigation to both NTSB and FAA, and are working with both of them to investigate further,” [WindBorne’s CEO John Dean posted on social media...] WindBorne said the company has launched more than 4,000 balloons and that it coordinates with the Federal Aviation Administration for every launch.

WindBorne “has conducted more than 4,000 launches,” the company said in a statement, noting that they’ve always coordinated those launched with America’s Federal Aviation Administration and filed aviation alerts for every launched balloon. Plus “The system is designed to be safe in the event of a midair collision... Our balloon is 2.4 pounds at launch and gets lighter throughout flight.” * We are working closely with the FAA on this matter. We immediately rolled out changes to minimize time spent between 30,000 and 40,000 feet. These changes are already live with immediate effect. Additionally, we are further accelerating our plans to use live flight data to autonomously avoid planes, even if the planes are at a non-standard altitude. We are also actively working on new hardware designs to further reduce impact force magnitude and concentration.*