On January 28, China sent over a surprise: a spy
balloon nearly the size of the Statue of Liberty. It hovered over the
United States for a couple of days before being shot down off the
Carolina coast on February 4. How this massive surveillance device
escaped detection from NORAD made for an embarrassing episode for US
security officials.
The balloon hovered over sensitive military sites. Biden wanted to
shoot down the balloon, though he was persuaded not to do so by the
brass due to falling debris. Yet, we know that wasn’t the first option.
The Biden administration wanted to hide its existence and subsequent
penetration of US airspace (via NBC News):
Administration
officials at first hoped to conceal the balloon’s existence from the
public, and from Congress, according to multiple former and current
administration and congressional officials.
“Before it was spotted
publicly, there was the intention to study it and let it pass over and
not ever tell anyone about it,” said a former senior U.S. official
briefed on the balloon incident.
A senior Biden administration
denied that there was an effort to keep the balloon secret. “To the
extent any of this was kept quiet at all, that was in large part to
protect intel equities related to finding and tracking them,” the
official said, referring to intelligence gathering. “There was no
intention to keep this from Congress at any point.”
[…]
The
balloon’s ability to fly and gather intelligence was mostly powered by
16 solar panels, and it was remotely steered for a time from inside of
China, while also using the wind and the jet stream to push it across
the U.S.
Early photos from the U.S. military of the balloon’s
payload showed antennas that were likely used to listen to cellphones
and other signals. The payload weighed about 2,000 pounds and was about
200 feet tall.
Biden’s military advisers warned him that it could
not be safely shot down because of a massive potential debris field
that would endanger people and structures below. NASA initially assessed
that field to be 70 miles wide and 70 miles long, with thousands of
pounds of debris falling 65,000 feet.
The president asked basic
questions about the balloon and its capabilities. At times, he grew
frustrated with how little U.S. intelligence officials knew about
China’s balloon program.
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Passengers on civilian aircraft spotted the massive surveillance
balloon. Video and social media postings were next. The media would pick
this up regardless, though that wasn’t the most pressing issue at the
time.
H/T John Hasson
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Why do you think that most people call him China Joe Biden 🤔
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