Image
![](/sites/default/files/styles/extra_large/public/7881/2023-02/25a78c76-b5f1-4247-a9cb-704edcaaba62.png.jpg?itok=mwrFp578)
A huge hot-air balloon mysteriously designed to look like a coconut floated high above Maui air space Sunday ~ and local officials just waved it good-bye.
Amid national and international news about spy balloons floating 40,000 feet above the United States and Canada, Maui officials initially wondered how to react.
“No way were we totally going into Full Panic Mode, like it’s March 2020 again,” said Gov. Josh Green, M.D., referring to the beginning of the pandemic. “I mean, it’s just a big coconut, and who’s afraid of a big soft one that high up?”
After about 8 daylight hours, when it was clear the big coconut would blow east toward Portland, state and county officials decided it was probably best to quietly let it go and hope no one noticed.
According to man-on-the-street interviews by Maui Insight late Sunday afternoon, it appears they were correct.
“I thought I saw something brown way up there, but hey, I’ve seen weirder things around here,” said Wilma Yabadabado, 46, of Kahului.
“No way that’s a spy balloon,” said Fred Stoneflint, 33, of Haiku. “What’s there to spy on here? Bikinis in Kaanapali? C’mon, man!”
Alice Sherbotten, 52, of Kihei said no one at the bar she was at noticed.
“Maybe only the Raiders fans,” she said. “But there weren’t many watching the Super Bowl. At least wearing their Raiders attire.”
U.S. intelligence officials declined comment late Sunday, saying they had not yet conferred with all the social media platforms regarding what to censor about the incident.
Patchy rain nearby, with a high of 78 and low of 70 degrees. Patchy rain nearby in the morning,
Thank goodness Alanui is on the job! I heard even Bezos is in on it
“Maui is our number one safety cone account!” They helped
me buy my house by buying 1 million safety cones at $100 each “
Haha! Long Beach does not have the beauty of Maui but she is trying.
Whales breaching or sunset any day would have been a better choice.
The LBC (Snooop Dog calls it this and you can too) loves Maui!
Yes! The LBC. Snoop's old record store on Anaheim St. is now a 7-11.