The Chinese spy balloon was equipped with the capability to capture images and collect signals intelligence from US military sites, according to a source familiar with the matter. The balloon, which first entered US airspace over Alaska in late January, passed through Canada and down into Montana before being shot down by the US off the East Coast on February 4.
The balloon was able to transmit information back to Beijing in real-time, raising questions about whether there is intelligence it gathered that the US still doesn't know about. Despite this, the US government believes that the Chinese surveillance program, which includes balloons like this one, is not a significant threat and has been assessed as being within the capabilities of existing technical means.
The balloon was likely able to capture images of sensitive military sites, including Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, where it hovered for several days. However, US officials say that they were able to censor some signals before the balloon could pick them up, and the incident did not appear to have provided critical new insights to the Chinese government.
China has maintained that the balloon was just a weather balloon thrown off course, but officials believe that China did maintain some ability to maneuver it once it entered US airspace. The US does not know the precise size of the fleet of Chinese surveillance balloons, but sources say that at least two dozen missions have been conducted over five continents in recent years.
The incident has further escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing, including the postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China. The FBI is still examining the balloon, but officials have said that they are not overly concerned about the information it gathered.
The balloon was able to transmit information back to Beijing in real-time, raising questions about whether there is intelligence it gathered that the US still doesn't know about. Despite this, the US government believes that the Chinese surveillance program, which includes balloons like this one, is not a significant threat and has been assessed as being within the capabilities of existing technical means.
The balloon was likely able to capture images of sensitive military sites, including Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, where it hovered for several days. However, US officials say that they were able to censor some signals before the balloon could pick them up, and the incident did not appear to have provided critical new insights to the Chinese government.
China has maintained that the balloon was just a weather balloon thrown off course, but officials believe that China did maintain some ability to maneuver it once it entered US airspace. The US does not know the precise size of the fleet of Chinese surveillance balloons, but sources say that at least two dozen missions have been conducted over five continents in recent years.
The incident has further escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing, including the postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China. The FBI is still examining the balloon, but officials have said that they are not overly concerned about the information it gathered.
omg u guys can u even believe what happened with this chinese spy balloon!!! 
like it was literally flying around us collecting all our secrets and transmitting them back to china in real time!!! 
it's wild to think that there are these balloons floating around just waiting to scoop up sensitive info about our military bases 
what if they did manage to get their hands on some critical intel from malmstrom air force base or something?? 
that would be like, super bad for national security and stuff
are they just trying to cover their tracks or what?? 
i dont trust them one bit with all this tech and espionage 
and what's with all these balloons just floating around in the skies? like, aren't there better ways to get intel than relying on random air currents? 
They're basically just huge paper lanterns with some fancy tech attached. Like, who even builds that stuff? 
. So, in that sense, I guess this incident wasn't all bad news 
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. And the fact that they were able to send that info back to Beijing so quickly is just mind-boggling 
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. Like, come on guys, let's be real - that's not exactly a convincing cover story 
and what's up with them saying it was just a weather balloon lol no way we all know those don't fly that far on their own 
and does anyone think this was just a one-time thing or are we in for a whole new level of espionage surveillance 
what's the real story here? 
It seems kinda counterproductive to me. Maybe they're just trying to test our defenses or something? Idk... 
I mean can you even imagine having a flying spy drone hovering over your military base? 
I'm kinda worried that China might have picked up some intel on our military sites that we're still unaware of 
Like Malmstrom Air Force Base, dude! 
Like, the US was able to intercept some signals and censor what they didn't want the Chinese to see, so that's a win right? And China's all like "oh no, our weather balloon went rogue" 
.
"Oh, it's not a significant threat"... How can you say that with confidence when there's no way of knowing exactly what kind of intel the Chinese got from it? It's like they're trying to cover something up or something.