US intelligence officials confirm that the Chinese spy balloon was capable of capturing imagery and collecting signals intelligence from US military sites before being shot down off the East Coast on February 4. The balloon, which first entered US airspace over Alaska in late January, hovered for several days over Montana, prompting concerns about its potential to surveil sensitive sites.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the balloon was able to transmit information back to Beijing in real-time, raising questions about whether there is intelligence that the US still doesn't know. However, the intelligence community has not been overly concerned about the information gathered by the balloon, as it is not significantly more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites are able to collect from similar locations.
The US had some knowledge of the balloon's path and was able to protect sensitive sites and censor some signals before the balloon was in a position to intercept them. However, the exact extent of the intelligence the balloon gathered remains unclear, as it is not known whether China could have wiped the data as it received it.
In total, at least two dozen missions by similar balloons have been conducted over five continents since recent years, with roughly half a dozen flights within US airspace. The surveillance program, which includes these balloons, is run from the small Chinese province of Hainan, and China has maintained that its balloon was just a weather balloon thrown off course.
Despite this claim, officials believe that China did have some ability to maneuver the balloon once it entered US airspace. In Montana, China appeared to take advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the balloon was able to transmit information back to Beijing in real-time, raising questions about whether there is intelligence that the US still doesn't know. However, the intelligence community has not been overly concerned about the information gathered by the balloon, as it is not significantly more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites are able to collect from similar locations.
The US had some knowledge of the balloon's path and was able to protect sensitive sites and censor some signals before the balloon was in a position to intercept them. However, the exact extent of the intelligence the balloon gathered remains unclear, as it is not known whether China could have wiped the data as it received it.
In total, at least two dozen missions by similar balloons have been conducted over five continents since recent years, with roughly half a dozen flights within US airspace. The surveillance program, which includes these balloons, is run from the small Chinese province of Hainan, and China has maintained that its balloon was just a weather balloon thrown off course.
Despite this claim, officials believe that China did have some ability to maneuver the balloon once it entered US airspace. In Montana, China appeared to take advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence.
I mean, come on, China's been playing this cat-and-mouse game with us for ages now... like, where's the transparency, you know? They say their balloon was just a weather thing, but we all know that's not true. And can we talk about how ridiculous it is that they think we wouldn't notice these balloons flying around our airspace? 
It's not exactly hard to keep track of giant orange orbs hovering above sensitive military sites.
Plus, even if the intel was somehow super sensitive, I doubt it's like, top-secret nuclear codes or anything... China can't handle that kind of pressure.
Just saying.
I'm still trying to wrap my head around this... like how can one tiny balloon be so super secret? 
It's crazy that the US didn't know exactly what it was gathering until now. That's some serious intel, fam! 
And the fact that China claims it was just a weather balloon is so extra 
. I'm not sure what the US could've done differently, but it's clear that China was trying to get as much intel as possible while they were in the air. It's all pretty wild and unsettling, tbh 
, that's not good for our national security 
. And with those balloons hovering over sensitive sites 
, it's like they're playing a game of cat and mouse 
. Can't say I'm surprised tho 
. I mean, China's been trying to gather info on us for years 
. We gotta keep an eye on them 
.
so, either way, it's all pretty sketchy 
what if china had been gathering intel on us while they were pretending to be friendly? 
we don't even know if the data was wiped or stored somewhere 
this whole thing is just giving me a bad vibe 
It's got me wondering how much we really know about what's going on in the world 
? That's actually kinda scary... I mean, can we really trust our own intelligence gathering methods? Maybe we should be looking over our shoulders more often 
. Ugh, my mind is all over the place now!
"weather balloon" lol 
it's like, if we knew what we didn't know, does that make it okay? 
anyway, at this point, i think we should try to get more info out of china about what really went down... 
. And don't even get me started on the fact that they claim China "wiped" the data - what does that even mean? 
.
That's a lot of time to gather intel, no cap. And it's not just the US they're targeting - they've been over Africa, Europe, and Asia too. 
They're like flying spy drones or something. And let's not forget - there were at least 2 dozen of them, so they must've been collecting a lot of info over time. 
i mean, we knew it was up there hovering over montana for days, but what were we waiting for? 
It just goes to show how the game has changed.
.
. The fact that China is claiming it was just a weather balloon thrown off course doesn't necessarily make it true 
. I mean, we're already dealing with Russia and Iran being sneaky about their spy games... now China gets in on the action? 