Air Force surveillance revealed a direct Colorado College connection to the Chinese weather balloon mystery. Air Force U-2 surveillance aircraft identified writing on the balloon, “50 years on the Block Plan” and investigators traced the balloon’s origin to Colorado College.

The balloon in question was launched July 27th, 2020 from the Colorado College campus to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the ‘unique’ Block Plan curriculum offered by the small liberal arts college in Colorado Springs. The balloon, a recent source of international tension between China and the U.S., has been circling, unnoticed, in the jet stream for several years until observers sighted the object several days ago over Montana and more recently Missouri.

The CC Block Plan allows students to focus on one topic daily (example: cooking, ceramics, poetry, dance) for three credit hours at a time and receive the equivalent of one semester’s worth of credit at another school. The balloon was designed and built by students as a block cycle project in the class Aeronautics for Artists. The student project deployed plastic shower curtains as the outer skin of a massive homemade balloon.

Chinese authorities have made no comment as of this writing. However, Lucky Dragon Restaurant, 420 West Fillmore, Colorado Springs is offering free crab cheese wontons with each Chef’s Special order for the next week.

Denver hockey faces the CC Tigers Saturday night at 6:00 pm MT in round two of The Battle for the Gold Pan at Robson Arena, Colorado Springs. Denver won the first game, at Ball Arena last weekend, 2-0.