According to defence officials, the U.S. reportedly tracks a rumoured Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States on Thursday. This development may worsen already tense ties between the United States and China.
Brig claims that the American government has been monitoring the balloon as it passes over the northern United States for several days. The balloon was”travelling at a significantly higher altitude than commercial air traffic and posing no military or physical threat to anyone on the ground,” according to the speaker, General Deputy Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder.
Disclosure By US Defense Official
Speaking under anonymity, a senior U.S. defence official disclosed that President Joe Biden had been convinced not to shoot it down due to worries that the debris could endanger people on the ground.
A high-altitude balloon sighted this week over the United States was, in fact, Chinese, China revealed on Friday. However, Beijing described the blimp as a civilian tool “used for scientific studies such as meteorology.” The Defense Department was “certain” that it was, in fact, a Chinese surveillance balloon, a senior defence official told CBS News on Thursday.
According to a U.S. official, the balloon itself is far more significant than the payload or the portion beneath the balloon that conducts the surveillance, which is the size of two to three school buses.When asked about the balloon on Saturday morning, President Biden responded, “We’re going to take care of it.”
We have determined that it is not an NWS weather balloon, the National Weather Service in Kansas City tweeted on Friday, citing “many reports across northwest MO of a huge balloon seen on the horizon.”
Twitter Post
By Saturday morning, meteorology student Evan Fisher had posted a picture of the balloon on Twitter and had calculated that it was somewhere near South Carolina.
Friday, during a routine briefing in Beijing, a representative for the Chinese foreign ministry responded to a question by saying that the nation “regrets that the airship strayed into the United States,” blaming it on a “westerly wind” and the device’s poor “management ability.”
What is a spy balloon?
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or a high-altitude balloon outfitted with cameras, sensors, or other surveillance equipment is known as a spy balloon. It is utilised for surveillance, reconnaissance, or the gathering of intelligence.
Which nations are reputed to use surveillance balloons?
Several countries, including the United States, China, and Israel, have used spy balloons in their military operations. Additionally, some non-state actors, such as drug cartels, have been reported to use spy balloons for their operations.
What does that indicate about the characteristics of this balloon, whose ownership China has confirmed?
China has long complained that the United States secretly spies on it via satellites and ships. Furthermore, China is well recognised for acting rather aggressively, such as sabre-rattling, sailing too close to other countries borders, and displaying aggression in the South China Sea.
The balloon does not threaten the United States. China may be experimenting to see how far they can take things. This could be more cutting-edge tech. There isn’t a military benefit to it.
