In recent days, the United States has shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was flying across the country. The balloon was traveling across the U.S for several days before it was finally brought down by a fighter jet over the Atlantic Ocean. Authorities temporarily closed the airspace over the Carolina coastline as the balloon approached the ocean. The incident has raised serious concerns among the U.S government and has been labeled as a clear violation of U.S sovereignty.
Background Information
The Chinese government claims that the balloon was a civilian research airship that strayed into U.S airspace. On the other hand, the U.S government asserts that the balloon was being used by China to surveil sites in the U.S. This disagreement has sparked a diplomatic row between the two countries and has led to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken breaking off plans to visit China earlier this week.
President Biden’s Response
President Joe Biden was reportedly briefed on the balloon incident on Wednesday and he ordered the Pentagon to shoot it down as soon as possible. The Pentagon deemed that taking the balloon down over land was too great a risk because of the size and altitude of the balloon. Therefore, they decided to wait until the balloon was over open waters and finally brought it down off the coast of North and South Carolina in U.S territory.
Gathering Evidence
The Pentagon believes that the balloon and its payload, which was conducting the surveillance, is of significant intelligence value. The U.S military and the Coast Guard are now working together to gather the debris of the balloon from the waters. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said that it is the number one mission to know what exactly is in the balloon and its payload and carry out an analysis of its contents.
Conclusion
The downed Chinese spy balloon incident has raised serious concerns among the U.S government and has sparked a diplomatic row between the U.S and China. The U.S military has confirmed that the balloon was being used by China to surveil sites in the U.S and is of significant intelligence value. The Pentagon and the Coast Guard are working together to gather the debris of the balloon from the waters to carry out an analysis of its contents. This incident highlights the need for increased surveillance and security measures to protect the U.S from potential foreign threats.
Japan launched fire balloons during WWII into the US and Canada. They were largely mostly unnoticed until they started several forest fires. So launching balloons is a proven tactic.
I like how the balloon was conveniently destroyed. Now they can say whatever they want about it, and we’ll never know the truth.
US officials say they were able to block the balloon from gathering intel during its overflight of the US, while the US military was able to turn the tables, so to speak, to gather intel on the balloon itself and its equipment.
Easy to determine whether it was a vehicle for spying. If ‘not’, China would have sharply condemned it being shot down, but if it is, the reaction will most probably be more subdued.
if it is a spy baloon with significant intelligence value, it must have completed its mission prior to downing. And a huge percentage of the debris will be lost at sea rather than on land…
Yaal,
No one told China it was okay To send any balloons. Thus, balloon from China f9r a joy ride all the way to shooting civilians en mass can not and should not be tolerated. Nato or someone should c9me down hard on China for fly even a drone in our air space. Ask yourself, what is a balloon from China flying around over near our coastline? Should we sit here discussing c9nspiracies or tell them this activity, whatever it is, is unexceptable and strongly ill-advised. I will comment or respond no further as I don’t get into discussions just providing my opinion for what it is worth.