US Intelligence Community Concedes Chinese Spy Balloon's Data May Still Be Available, Raising Questions About New Intel.
A US spy balloon that crossed into the country in late January may have transmitted critical information back to Beijing in real-time before it was shot down over the East Coast last month.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the High Altitude Balloon flew over several sensitive military sites in Alaska and Canada, including Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. It was eventually destroyed by US fighter jets off the coast of South Carolina.
The balloon was able to capture images and collect some signals intelligence from these sites, a development that has raised concerns about whether China could have learned new information about US military capabilities.
While the US government still doesn't know for certain whether the Chinese government could have wiped the balloon's data as it received it, the lack of clarity raises questions about what other intel the device may have gathered and whether it remains available to Beijing.
Despite the uncertainty, experts say that the intelligence community is unlikely to be overly concerned. The information the balloon was able to gather is not significantly more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites can collect over similar locations.
US officials had previously acknowledged that the balloon was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations, but said it did not pose a significant hazard beyond existing technical means from China.
The US has been tracking a fleet of similar surveillance balloons operated by China's military in recent years. According to one official, at least two dozen flights have been conducted over five continents, with about half a dozen occurring within US airspace.
China has denied that the balloon was spying on the US, saying it was just a weather balloon thrown off course. However, officials believe that China may have had some ability to maneuver the device and take advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and gather intel.
A US spy balloon that crossed into the country in late January may have transmitted critical information back to Beijing in real-time before it was shot down over the East Coast last month.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the High Altitude Balloon flew over several sensitive military sites in Alaska and Canada, including Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana. It was eventually destroyed by US fighter jets off the coast of South Carolina.
The balloon was able to capture images and collect some signals intelligence from these sites, a development that has raised concerns about whether China could have learned new information about US military capabilities.
While the US government still doesn't know for certain whether the Chinese government could have wiped the balloon's data as it received it, the lack of clarity raises questions about what other intel the device may have gathered and whether it remains available to Beijing.
Despite the uncertainty, experts say that the intelligence community is unlikely to be overly concerned. The information the balloon was able to gather is not significantly more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites can collect over similar locations.
US officials had previously acknowledged that the balloon was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations, but said it did not pose a significant hazard beyond existing technical means from China.
The US has been tracking a fleet of similar surveillance balloons operated by China's military in recent years. According to one official, at least two dozen flights have been conducted over five continents, with about half a dozen occurring within US airspace.
China has denied that the balloon was spying on the US, saying it was just a weather balloon thrown off course. However, officials believe that China may have had some ability to maneuver the device and take advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and gather intel.
This is so sketchy 
! A spy balloon collecting data on our military bases in Alaska and Canada? That's like, totally unacceptable 
. I mean, we're already talking about a whole fleet of these things being tracked by the US - it's only a matter of time before we realize just how much info China is getting from us 
. And now they're saying that maybe some of this data is still out there? That's just not right 
. We need to be taking action on this, not just sitting around waiting for the government to figure it out 
. I'm calling on our leaders to get serious about national security and take steps to protect our country from these kinds of threats 
.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole situation... it's like, we're already tracking these Chinese spy balloons, but somehow one sneaks into our airspace and starts spewing out some juicy intel 
.
. But still, it's like... what if? What if the Chinese are just biding their time, waiting for us to let our guard down before they strike 
. I guess we'll have to wait and see how this all plays out 
? and btw, china's "weather balloon" excuse is just laughable 
... not buying it 
. It's not like this is some groundbreaking intel that'll give them an edge over us or anything 
. Plus, if it was able to transmit data back to Beijing in real-time, wouldn't they have already taken action by now? 
.
. If that data was still available to Beijing after the balloon was shot down, what else did it collect? We're talking about super sensitive military sites here... this is a big deal 
️. I'm all for a strong defense, but this seems like a case of 'keep up with the Joneses' 
.
when u got one that can actually spy? 
That's so sketchy. 
It's not like we can just sit back and do nothing about it... 
Do you guys think the US government should be more transparent about what's going on with these balloons?
... like, what if someone found it? 
And China's already been doing this for years with their own balloons, so this is just another level of espionage 
We need better tech to detect and track these things ASAP! 
could've disabled us completely... 
What if that data is still out there, just waiting for Beijing to access it? It's freaking me out just thinking about it! 
. The US gov't is being super tight-lipped about this too, which just raises more questions. Did they really wipe the data or what? 
It's all pretty shady at this point 
it's like something out of a spy movie 
but seriously, how do we know that the data wasn't wiped or deleted by China? 
like, what kind of tech are we up against here? 
think about all those times china claims they are doing legit stuff for weather monitoring or whatever 
