There have been unconfirmed reports of an explosion in the skies over Billings, Mont., where a Chinese spy balloon has been hovering for the last several days. Although there have not been any official reports, there is speculation (not unfounded) that the U.S. military shot down the balloon. As with any story of this nature, it’s important not to jump to conclusions until we have more information.

Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, who was appearing on Fox News when the story broke, told Tucker Carlson: “I was notified of it just minutes before we came on the air, and we’re monitoring the situation.  I’m talking to our national guard to find out if they have additional information.” He said he expects to be briefed on the situation in the next hour.

Here’s what the reported explosion looked like from a Billings, Mont., Twitter user’s vantage point:

There were also unconfirmed reports of American fighter jets in the area.

Gianforte said that earlier in the week, he was not briefed by federal authorities until the balloon was “hundreds of miles into Montana. It had already flown near the [Malmstrom] Air Force Base and the ICBM silos.”

“When I finally got informed, it was over our most populous city [Billings],” he added. “It got spotted by a photographer at the airport.”

“If it was up to Montanans,” Gianforte said, “this thing would have been taken out of the sky the moment it entered our sovereign airspace. It clearly had been there a while. It’s not moving that fast.”

He said that in early briefings with the federal government, “they were contemplating taking it out of the sky. For whatever reason, they didn’t do that. Now, clearly, this went to the president’s desk. He was given options. For whatever reason, he chose not to act, and unfortunately, the result of that is that Americans are endangered and our enemies are emboldened.”

This is a developing story.