A mysterious surveillance balloon was spotted flying over the United States in early February, creating widespread panic and unease.
Confirmed to have arrived from China as part of an effort to collect information on certain countries’ military capabilities, the balloon flew over several continents before appearing in North America. It was spotted in Montana, home to the Malmstrom Air Force Base, one of the three nuclear missile silo fields in the United States. The U.S. Department of Defense stated that the balloon did not pose a threat to U.S. intelligence, as officials knew of the balloon’s location at all times. The Department also said that China probably would not be able to collect more information using the balloon than what their satellites could collect already (BBC).
The balloon was shot down on February 4. Officials said it was 200 feet tall (U.S. Department of Defense). Remnants of the balloon will be studied to better understand how engineers in China create these kinds of technology.
John Kirby, the National Security Council’s Coordinator for Strategic Communications, stated, “We were able to determine that China has a high-altitude balloon program for intelligence collection that’s connected to the People’s Liberation Army. It was operating during the previous administration, but they did not detect it. We detected it. We tracked it. And, we have been carefully studying it to learn as much as we can.” He added, “Every element of the government will redouble their efforts to understand and mitigate these events.”
The State Department stated that “the United States will also explore possible action against [People’s Republic of China] entities linked to the [People’s Liberation Army] that supported the balloon’s incursion into U.S. airspace.” The U.S will “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” (The New York Times).
