It was carrying NASA instruments that measure solar radiation in the stratosphere, data that can help keep aerospace crews safe.

The company World View Enterprises on Saturday in Arizona launched the remotely run craft that can travel between 45,000 and 75,000 feet elevation, relying on solar arrays hanging off the bottom of the balloon and tilting toward the sun for power.

The operators will fly this machine — called a Gryphon Stratolite — north of the 40th parallel to gather data for NASA as part of that agency’s program for measuring solar radiation levels, World Enterprises spokesman Phil Wocken said, confirming a flight path over metro Denver.

In the mountains west of Denver near Black Hawk, Myron Zeleznik, 80, a retired sheet metal worker and general aviation pilot, watched for hours from his house at 9,200 feet elevation. “It’s white. It looks like a balloon on top of a balloon,” Zeleznik said.

“It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” he said, admitting he was worried.

“I’ve launched in hot air balloons, so I know what they look like. This doesn’t look like a hot air balloon, because it doesn’t have a basket.”

He called 911 when he saw it Friday morning.

The NASA instruments use sensors to measure solar radiation — data that can be used to improve aerospace safety by estimating radiation doses and dose rates along flight tracks, Wocken said. Government agencies are trying to set up a reliable system to “monitor the natural galactic and solar radiation environment” where commercial flights carry passengers and flight crews.

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Air Force Academy emergency responders went to the room and “attempted life-saving measures” to resuscitate Cadet Avery Koonce “but were unsuccessful,” according to an academy statement.

Koonce came from Taylor, Texas, a member of the Class of 2028, and participated on the AFA Women’s Track and Field team. She arrived at the academy in June for a summer of basic training before classes began around August.

“We lost an incredible teammate last night. While only with us for a short time, Avery positively impacted her unit, her intercollegiate team, and her class. Her loss will be felt across USAFA,” Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen Tony Bauernfeind said.

The investigators had not determined the cause of her death. There’s no evidence of foul play and “there is no suspect,” academy spokesman Jeff Troth said. “We do not know what the cause was at this time.”

The 4,100 cadets at the academy on Thursday “were informed of what occurred. They were given the option to go to class, or not, and we provided counselors at various locations,” Troth said.

Koonce’s family members were planning a funeral in Texas. Air Force officials were planning a memorial service at the academy next week.

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The deputy was taken to a local hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries, the sheriff’s office said via social media. It’s unclear if the deputy shot the driver because the vehicle sped away, authorities said.

Around 9 a.m., an El Paso County Sheriff’s Office deputy found a stolen vehicle near Brant Road and Expedition Drive in unincorporated El Paso County, authorities said.

The driver of the stolen vehicle fled the scene, authorities said. A few minutes later, the same deputy found the vehicle in the Windmill Mesa Park area and tried to make contact, officials said. The driver of the vehicle sped away, hitting the deputy, authorities said. The deputy fired at least one round.

The sheriff’s office is asking for the public’s assistance in finding the vehicle, a 2015 Blue Mazda MPV. If the vehicle is located, authorities said not to approach and call 911.

The deputy will be placed on administrative leave in accord with EPCSO policy.

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The injured hiker, who couldn’t walk, was taken to the Aspen Valley hospital Thursday night to be treated for injuries that were not life-threatening.

The caller telephoned for help after leaving the Maroon Bells Wilderness Area and gaining cell service.

Two Mountain Rescue Aspen teams of six rescuers mobilized and reached the fallen hiker around sunset, Pitkin County Sheriff authorities announced in a press release.

The hiker was on a three-mile scenic loop that connects to Maroon Lake with the East Maroon Portal.

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A gunfire detection system had alerted police to the shooting near 7300 Oneida Drive, near the Adams City High School and Lester Arnold High School in north metro Denver, around 1 a.m, according to a social media post from Commerce City police.

Police arriving at the scene found the three gunshot victims. All three were taken to a hospital, where the woman was pronounced dead, police said, noting in an update that, the man is critical and the other woman’s injuries are minor.

The shooting is still under investigation and no suspects have been identified.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

Under Jeffco Public Schools’ policy, trip supervisors assign students to overnight accommodations with other students based on gender identity rather than the sex assigned at birth. It’s part of the district’s effort to reduce the “stigmatization” of transgender students and ensure equal opportunities for all students while also protecting privacy.

The lawsuit filed this week by the Alliance Defending Freedom, a Christian legal advocacy group, argues that parents must be notified in advance and allowed to make sure their children are assigned to rooms with students of the same sex.

Joe and Serena Wailes allowed their 11-year-old daughter to go on a school trip to Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., in June 2023 after they were told their daughter would be rooming with three other fifth-grade girls. On the first night, their daughter learned she had been assigned to share a bed with a transgender girl.

The Wailes parents sent letters to administrators asking them to let parents opt out of any policy that assigns children to rooms based on gender identity rather than birth sex.

But the lawsuit says Jeffco officials repeatedly denied their request.

“Jeffco doubled down on their policy and made it clear that they will continue to ignore concerns from parents and hide information from parents about who their children will share rooms with on overnight school-sponsored trips,” ADF attorney Mallory Sleight said Thursday in an emailed response to questions.

“We are asking Jeffco to let parents be the ones to make decisions on their children’s privacy while protecting the privacy of all children.”

Jeffco Schools officials did not respond to requests for comment.

Faced with legal demand letters last year, officials said they would not “knowingly” assign students of different birth sexes to the same bed. The policy continues to allow shared rooms: “Students who are transgender should be assigned to share overnight accommodations with other students that share the student’s gender identity consistently asserted at school.”

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court on behalf of parents of three children contends parents have a fundamental right to make decisions about the upbringing and education of their children, a right that includes protection against “violations of bodily privacy which result when they must expose their bodies to the opposite sex in intimate settings, like overnight accommodations or shower facilities.”

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National Weather Service meteorologists on Thursday confirmed a light dusting on mountains west of metro Denver, including Rocky Mountain National Park. Snow also settled atop Pikes Peak, west of Colorado Springs.

Arapahoe Basin, Keystone, Breckenridge and Copper Mountain all saw snow on the upper reaches of their ski mountains, as did the higher peaks of Summit County including Quandary Peak. A-Basin and Keystone will be vying to become the first Colorado ski area to open for the season, shooting for first tracks in October.

The snow fell at elevations as low as 11,000 feet above sea level in the mountains, meteorologists said. It won’t last long as temperatures rise.

On Thursday, temperatures were expected to stay in the 70s as thunderstorms rolled over the Front Range in the morning, mostly south of Interstate 70.

Over the weekend, forecasters anticipated warmer weather with high temperatures around 90 degrees.

Reporter John Meyer contributed to this report. 

Emanuel “Manny” Bloodworth was last seen near 8800 Lipan St. and is from another state, according to the alert issued by the Thornton Police Department.

He’s described as 5 feet 4 inches, weighing 130 pounds, with long brown hair, and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a black long-sleeve shirt, black pants, and black shoes.

Police urged anyone with information to call 9-1-1.

A critically endangered species, condors flying in the wild and rugged canyons of northern Arizona and southern Utah number only 85 – a population hard hit in 2023 by avian influenza. They’re seldom seen in Colorado. But in late March this year, somebody killed one in a remote area northeast of Lewis and west of McPhee Reservoir in Montezuma County, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said in a news release.

This massive dead bird was discovered about 24 hours after it was killed, CPW officials stated.

“Previous leads have not yielded results,” the officials said, so CPW and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials are asking for any information regarding the killing and those who are responsible.

California condors are protected under the Endangered Species Act, which means it is illegal for anyone to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect them. Anyone involved in killing this condor could face a third-degree felony charge of wanton destruction of protected wildlife, with a maximum fine of $5,000, restitution of $1,500, and a five-year prison sentence, CPW officials said.

In 1987, the California condor population had declined to just 22 birds in the wild. A federally led recovery program has relied on captive breeding and release of condors. The total world population numbers more than 560, officials said. More than half are flying free in Arizona, Utah, California, and Mexico.

Anybody with information about the bird’s killing can call the Colorado Operation Game Thief hotline at 1-877-265-6648, send an email to game.thief@state.co.us, notify federal authorities by calling 844-397-8477, or submit it via cpw.state.co.us/hunting/poaching-and-operation-game-thief. Anybody providing information that leads to a successful prosecution may be eligible for a reward, CPW and USFWS officials said, adding that any requests for confidentiality will be respected.

Five or six shots were fired during the chase, Douglas County Sheriff Darren Weekly said. The suspect – Brenton Zeiler of Aurora  – gave up after a standoff in the Village Greens Park in Greenwood Village. Deputies recovered a 9 mm pistol with a 32-round magazine that had been tossed over a fence.

Zeiler is expected to be charged with attempted murder, Weekly told reporters at the scene. Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies were tracking two other suspects.

Early Wednesday at around  2:38 a.m., deputies were notified about the alleged burglary at the salvage yard in Highlands Ranch near Blakeland Drive and Highway 85. The suspects broke through a fence and rammed a patrol car, authorities said, and the deputy inside sustained injuries, yet continued to engage the suspects. The suspects fled along Belleview Avenue. A trailer they were towing became disconnected and crashed.

The deputy was treated and released from a hospital and is expected to recover.

Englewood police joined the chase and were targeted, too, as the shots were fired from the fleeing suspect vehicle, Weekly said.

New video of #DCSO deputies responding to a burglary. Suspect rammed marked patrol vehicle, led deputies on a lengthy pursuit, fired shots at deputies, crashed into tree. @SheriffWeekly said, "This video shows the dangers our deputies face and the dedication they have to… pic.twitter.com/qNSTPt9c77

— DC Sheriff (@dcsheriff) September 4, 2024

“If you shoot at a law enforcement officer, we will catch you,” he said.

Two unidentified suspects who fled on foot hadn’t been located Wednesday morning and were believed to have escaped the area, Weekly said. “We are very lucky that none of our deputies was hit.”

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