The crew of the commercial fishing vessel managed to lift the debris out of the water and is hauling it back to a port in Alaska sometime this weekend. 

Sources tell CNN that FBI agents will meet the vessel when it arrives at port. Agents will then load the debris into a plane, where it will be analyzed at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia. This is the same lab that has analyzed other Chinese surveillance balloons. 

"The fishermen shared photographs of the object with law enforcement upon encountering it," the sources said.

CNN pointed out: 

All three sources emphasized that it wasn't clear exactly what the object was and that it may not be a balloon at all — but that the FBI determined that it was similar enough in appearance to a foreign-government-owned surveillance balloon that it warranted further investigation.

The FBI acknowledged the debris in a statement last night:

"We are aware of debris found off the coast of Alaska by a commercial fishing vessel. We will work with our partners to assist with the logistics of the debris recovery."

This comes one week after a mysterious high-altitude balloon was intercepted by NORAD fighter jets over Utah - and one year after a Chinese surveillance balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.