A massive mystery balloon led to panic in lower Manhattan Sunday, as it hovered over the city and caused witnesses to fear that it was part of some kind of bizarre terror plot, sources said.
Onlookers first spotted the SUV-sized object floating in the sky some 800 feet above the South Street Seaport at about 8 a.m..
Some residents immediately called 911.
“It really freaked out our upstairs neighbor,” said Dustin Marks, who works in a bike shop on South Street. “I can’t blame her. It was unsettling.
“Her first thought was ISIS,” he added. “I know she was speculating, but it didn’t seem absurd at the time.”
Officials soon discovered that the balloon was harmless, and had been floated into the air on a tether from a specially designed van by a company called Digital Design and Imaging. The city subcontractor was using the balloon to take aerial photographs for a planning study.
Company founder Curt Westergard, 58, said he had spent about an hour capturing a stunning views of the Manhattan skyline before cops rolled up and started grilling him.
“It was a regulatory response. They were doing their jobs,” he said, adding that his company had received several permits to conduct the operation, including one with the NYPD.
“We are sensitive to the need for vigilance,” he added.
The NYPD confirmed that the workers did have the proper permits and allowed them to carry on after the brief scare, adding that the department’s harbor and aviation units were waiting at the ready.
“There are several levels of notification, but the guy on the beat is sometimes the last one to know,” Westergard said.
The company was hired by the city to snap the photos for a future development near the old Fulton Fish Market.