The US has been tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted flying over sensitive sites in recent days, and finally shot it down after it crossed into the Atlantic.
Defense officials confirmed the “high-altitude surveillance balloon” belonged to China.
The Pentagon’s reasoning for not shooting down a Chinese Spy Balloon above Montana was that falling debris could injure those on the ground… In Montana…. a massive state with a tiny population.
Rumors: Some insiders have claimed it was not a spy balloon, but a crack-filled pinata for Hunter Biden’s birthday party on Saturday. But really, China owns about a trillion dollars in U.S. Treasuries, making it the number-two investor among foreign governments in federal debt. But tell me more about this China spy balloon.
Side-eye: Balloonfest proves once again that when it is far too late to matter, the administration will act in the least impressive way possible to do the bare minimum–surely, the administration will celebrate this takedown as a success after it surveilled some of our most sensitive military installations. On cue, the trained seals will clap.
At any rate, the balloon’s flight path took it over a “number of sensitive sites”. It may have gotten all the Intel it needed before being shot down.
But wait, don’t most of us use satellites for intelligence collection?
Balloons, which actually were used in the American Civil War, are making a comeback. Unlike satellites, which are predictable, and require LEO (Low Earth Orbit), balloons are low signature and low-to-zero emission, so hard to pick up with traditional surveillance technology. And, since balloons don’t have to worry about being in orbit, they can be steered using onboard computers to take advantage of winds, so they can loiter around an area for a good bit of time.
BREAKING: Pentagon has now confirmed there is a second Chinese Spy Balloon over South America. Not making this up.
We are still not sure what the balloon wss looking for, possibly collecting data on communication systems, or maybe even scouting real estate, a hobby the PRC is increasingly more fond of. The Chinese government claims it was a weather balloon that got off track.
Weird thought: The FBI/CIA/CDC embeds thousands of spies in all US social media companies, all gathering detailed personal information on a hundred million citizens, and no one seems to care. But China floats a balloon over US territory and everyone goes nuts.