Citizens of the United States watched for days as the Chinese balloon traveled over their heads across the country. For 7 straight days, America heard that the balloon was loose over U.S. airspace and waited for the U.S. military to shoot it down. On its diagonal final path across the southeast of the continental U.S. military planes from Virginia followed the balloon. Navy ships waited offshore of South Carolina to pick up debris from the takedown that was planned to happen as the balloon cleared the beach yet was still in U.S. waters. As the military actions became clear to the public, questions as to why the military did not take down the balloon when it entered U.S. waters on the Pacific side of the nation began to be asked.
The Biden administration announced that it had waited until the balloon was over the sea to shoot it in order to be “safe” and avoid fallout to cause any destruction or injuries.
Ignoring the fact that their unannounced aircraft was flying over military posts in the continental U.S. China responded to the shooting of the balloon by saying that the “weather” balloon was strictly used for meteorological research and accidentally went adrift into U.S. airspace, NPR reported. China’s foreign ministry expressed “strong dissatisfaction and protest” over the United States'”use of force to attack a civilian unmanned airship” calling the shooting an “obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice”.
The presence of the balloon over the U.S. was disturbing enough to cause Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to cancel his planned trip to Beijing.
As the pieces of the balloon fell to the sea and the Navy retrieved them, it was hoped answers would come, and they did. The State Department last Thursday said the China spy balloon, which was 200 feet tall and carrying a payload the size of a jet airliner, had the tools to collect communications signals. this solidified the name “Chinese Spy Balloon” as it obviously was not a weather device, instead it was sent to retrieve data.
The questions as to why President Joe Biden would allow such an aircraft to travel across the entire country before dealing with it were met with ambiguous responses from the government, which initially refused to deny the aircraft was a UFO. When more balloons were sighted and shot down over Alaska, Canada, and the continental U.S. questions intensified.
Now one question is answered as to why one balloon easily entered U.S. airspace on the west coast…it was allowed to.
CBS News on Tuesday night reported US Intelligence actually saw the spy balloon lift off near China’s south coast and tracked it for nearly a week before it entered US airspace, GWP reported.
“U.S. intelligence watched the Chinese spy balloon as it lifted off near China’s south coast, meaning the U.S. military had been tracking it for nearly a week before it entered U.S. airspace. Longer than originally know,” CBS News reported. “What they saw was this balloon heading east from China towards Guam and Hawaii, but then it took a sharp northward turn – a beeline towards Alaska!” CBS reported.
Via CBS News:
BREAKING: CBS News has learned that U.S. intelligence watched the Chinese spy balloon as it lifted off near China's south coast, meaning the U.S. military had been tracking it for nearly a week before it entered U.S. airspace. pic.twitter.com/oaR5yZIRwm
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) February 15, 2023
The high-altitude surveillance balloon was spotted over the Aleutian Islands two Saturdays ago. This means that a China spy balloon floated across US airspace for 7 days straight with Joe Biden’s full approval. Biden initially refused to shoot down the balloon and allowed it to soar over military installations and nuclear silos.
The balloon was equipped with antennas and solar panels large enough to produce power to operate “multiple active intelligence collection sensors,” the NY Times reported. the pieces of this equipment retrieved from the downed balloons showed that parts were manufactured by at least one U.S. company. The name of that company has not been released, but GWP reported that the company (unidentified) that constructed the spy balloon has direct ties to the People’s Liberation Army.
“The United States will also explore taking action against P.R.C. entities linked to the P.L.A. that supported the balloon’s incursion into U.S. airspace,” the State Department said, referring to the People’s Republic of China. “We will also look at broader efforts to expose and address the P.R.C.’s larger surveillance activities that pose a threat to our national security, and to our allies and partners,” GWP reported.
Republican have plenty to say about the balloon situation, NPR reported. Texas governor Greg Abbott tweeted, “the China balloon flying over the U.S. is a direct assault on our national sovereignty.” Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina stated that the balloon “should have been shot down before it crossed the continental United States, not after. We still don’t know what information was collected and where it was sent.” Scott continued, “This was a dereliction of Biden’s duty and let’s hope the American people don’t pay a price.”
