Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 7
Troubleshooting; Distraction; Communication Breakdown; Confusion; Situational Awareness
ATC Issue All Types; Airspace Violation All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert
Aircraft; Human Factors; Procedure
When I got in and relieved the mid-shift I noticed 3 high altitude codes in and close to my airspace that nobody new about.  The codes had various altitudes associated with the targets all ranging between 520 and 590 [FL520-590].  We assumed they were bad radar targets but the SOC said they weren't.  When the MOS got in; we confirmed that the codes were; in fact; high altitude balloons.  They claim the area knew about it from the night before; but nobody could find paperwork in the area.  They said they would bring down the paperwork but never did.  I think this is a dangerous situation especially with the number of high-altitude Global Hawks that we have flying around in the same airspace.  Over the next hour or so I observed the balloons float into ZDV and ZLC airspace and called both of those other sectors to tell them about the codes.  Neither ZDV nor ZLC knew about the balloons before my call either.The areas must be kept informed of balloon activity especially due to the fact that we frequently have high-altitude Global Hawk aircraft in the airspace.
ZLA Controller reports of high altitude balloons in which the sectors didn't have any information on. Traffic Management Unit said they knew about them the night before and should have paperwork in the area.