A Chinese spy balloon, which transited the US earlier this year, was able to capture images and collect signals intelligence from several US military sites. According to a source familiar with the matter, the balloon was able to transmit information back to Beijing in real-time. However, it is unclear whether the Chinese government could wipe the balloon's data as it received it.
The incident has raised concerns about the effectiveness of US intelligence gathering methods, particularly when it comes to detecting and tracking Chinese surveillance balloons. The US intelligence community believes that the balloon was not a significant collection hazard beyond what already exists in "actionable technical means" from China.
In February, a senior State Department official stated that the balloon was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations while it floated across the US. However, Gen. Glen VanHerck, the commander of US Northern Command and NORAD, said at the time that the US did not assess that the balloon presented a significant collection hazard.
The surveillance program, which includes several similar balloons, is run out of the small Chinese province of Hainan. The US does not know the precise size of the fleet of Chinese surveillance balloons, but sources indicate that the program has conducted at least two dozen missions over at least five continents in recent years.
Roughly half a dozen of those flights have been within US airspace, although not necessarily over US territory, according to one official familiar with the intelligence. China has maintained that the balloon was actually just a weather balloon thrown off course, and the US has been assessing the possibility that it was not deliberately maneuvered into the continental US by the Chinese government.
Despite this, officials believe that China did maintain some ability to maneuver the balloon once it was over Montana. And once the balloon was in position, China appeared to take advantage of its location to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence.
The incident has raised concerns about the effectiveness of US intelligence gathering methods, particularly when it comes to detecting and tracking Chinese surveillance balloons. The US intelligence community believes that the balloon was not a significant collection hazard beyond what already exists in "actionable technical means" from China.
In February, a senior State Department official stated that the balloon was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations while it floated across the US. However, Gen. Glen VanHerck, the commander of US Northern Command and NORAD, said at the time that the US did not assess that the balloon presented a significant collection hazard.
The surveillance program, which includes several similar balloons, is run out of the small Chinese province of Hainan. The US does not know the precise size of the fleet of Chinese surveillance balloons, but sources indicate that the program has conducted at least two dozen missions over at least five continents in recent years.
Roughly half a dozen of those flights have been within US airspace, although not necessarily over US territory, according to one official familiar with the intelligence. China has maintained that the balloon was actually just a weather balloon thrown off course, and the US has been assessing the possibility that it was not deliberately maneuvered into the continental US by the Chinese government.
Despite this, officials believe that China did maintain some ability to maneuver the balloon once it was over Montana. And once the balloon was in position, China appeared to take advantage of its location to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence.
I'm like totally confused about these balloons, you know? Like, how do they even get them up there without being detected for ages?! 
They're saying it's probably just a weather balloon that got lost or something, but then Gen VanHerck is all "nope, this one was special" 
. And what's with the signals intelligence thing? Like, how does a balloon even do that?! It sounds like some crazy spy stuff 
. I'm just thinking about how we used to watch those movies where spies would use umbrellas as fancy hiding spots... lol, it's just so old-school now 
. Anyway, if China is using these balloons to get intel on us, that's not cool at all 
. We need to figure out a way to stop them before they can cause any harm 
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. It's like, how did we not see this coming? Or, on the other hand, maybe we just need to step up our game and invest more in our surveillance tech 
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And now that we know about it, I guess the question becomes: what did they learn from us? Did they get some juicy intel on our military sites or was it just a bunch of noise 
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. This one looked way too sleek and high-tech for that.
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Like, can't believe they were able to gather intel from US military sites without anyone noticing for so long? And now we're supposed to trust that China didn't wipe the data as it received it? 
. But seriously, what kinda tech does China have that they can just launch a whole fleet of these things and still manage to keep it under wraps? And now we're gonna have to deal with more of them because it's clear the US isn't ready for this level of surveillance 
. This is getting creepy 
the fact that they could capture images and transmit info back to Beijing in real-time is wild 
i mean, if china can do that, how are our intel methods supposed to keep up? 
and yeah, china's all like "it was just a weather balloon" but come on, we know better 
i mean, we already know they've got some pretty sweet espionage tech on their end... it's like, what's the point of having a whole fleet of them? and now that we know they can transmit info back to beijing in real time... it just makes me wonder what kinda data they're collecting 
especially with china's got a whole fleet of these things out there. i'm all for security, but this feels like a cat-and-mouse game 
. what's the point of even having military sites if china can just fly over and scoop up intel? 
. And what about those signals intelligence collection operations? Can't we just block their signals or something? 
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. It's time for some serious intel upgrades! 
. But seriously, it raises so many questions about our national security and how we're supposed to trust these foreign powers not to spy on us.
. I mean, if China has been doing this for at least two dozen missions over five continents, what else are they capable of? We need to get our act together and figure out how to stay one step ahead of these surveillance programs.
️. Like, come on guys, no need to make a big show out of it. But I guess when you're trying to hide something, you gotta be creative... or in this case, just really bad at flying 
️.
. Like, what else is going on in the skies above our heads and how are we not catching these things? The fact that China can just send out a bunch of balloons and keep track of them to loiter over sensitive sites is pretty concerning. And if they could wipe the data as it received it... 
I don’t know what kind of tech we need to detect this stuff, but it seems like we're in the dark 
i mean we gotta keep up with them tech wise lol. the fact that they were able to transmit info in real time is wild, like how are we not on par with this yet? 
gotta give props tho to our intel team for trying to figure it out and stay one step ahead! 
, everyone was all like "oh no, our government is spying on us" and now it seems like we're the ones getting spied on! 
? I'm seriously worried about our national security right now... 
. We need to step up our game if we wanna keep our secrets safe. And another thing, why did that balloon just float over Montana for like hours? That's some serious reconnaissance 
. Can't even trust the weather explanation 
That's just wild.
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