A Chinese spy balloon capable of transmitting information back to Beijing was spotted crossing US airspace earlier this year, according to a source familiar with the matter. The balloon was able to capture imagery and collect signals intelligence from several US military sites before being shot down by the US off the East Coast.
The US government still does not know for certain whether the Chinese government could have wiped the data from the balloon's servers as it received it, raising questions about what information the balloon may have gathered that is still unknown to the US. However, US intelligence officials say that while the balloon was able to collect some valuable intel, it was likely not significantly more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites are already capable of gathering.
The balloon first entered US airspace over Alaska in late January before passing through Canada and down into Montana, where it hovered for several days. The US had been tracking the balloon's path and took steps to protect sensitive military sites from potential surveillance, including censoring signals before the balloon could pick them up.
Despite this, officials are still assessing the full extent of what information was collected by the balloon and whether any critical new insights were shared with Beijing. The incident has further strained relations between the US and China, including a postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China.
The Chinese government maintains that the balloon was simply a weather balloon that was thrown off course, but officials believe that China did have some ability to maneuver it once it entered the continental US. The exact extent of what information was collected by the balloon remains unclear, but it has raised concerns about the capabilities and intentions of the Chinese surveillance program, which includes several similar balloons operating over multiple continents.
The US intelligence community has been tracking the Chinese surveillance program for years, with sources telling CNN that at least two dozen missions have been conducted in recent years. Roughly half a dozen of those flights have entered US airspace, although not necessarily over US territory.
The US government still does not know for certain whether the Chinese government could have wiped the data from the balloon's servers as it received it, raising questions about what information the balloon may have gathered that is still unknown to the US. However, US intelligence officials say that while the balloon was able to collect some valuable intel, it was likely not significantly more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites are already capable of gathering.
The balloon first entered US airspace over Alaska in late January before passing through Canada and down into Montana, where it hovered for several days. The US had been tracking the balloon's path and took steps to protect sensitive military sites from potential surveillance, including censoring signals before the balloon could pick them up.
Despite this, officials are still assessing the full extent of what information was collected by the balloon and whether any critical new insights were shared with Beijing. The incident has further strained relations between the US and China, including a postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China.
The Chinese government maintains that the balloon was simply a weather balloon that was thrown off course, but officials believe that China did have some ability to maneuver it once it entered the continental US. The exact extent of what information was collected by the balloon remains unclear, but it has raised concerns about the capabilities and intentions of the Chinese surveillance program, which includes several similar balloons operating over multiple continents.
The US intelligence community has been tracking the Chinese surveillance program for years, with sources telling CNN that at least two dozen missions have been conducted in recent years. Roughly half a dozen of those flights have entered US airspace, although not necessarily over US territory.
. i mean, china's already got satellites that can gather intel like us, so whats the diff? plus, why did they even send it to our airspace in the 1st place? sounds like an excuse to me... cant say im surprised tho, china's been playing hardball with us lately. and now we gotta deal w/ the diplomatic fallout 
we're so caught up in tryin to outsmart our adversaries that we forget about the human side of things. people are gettin affected by these spy games, their lives get disrupted because of some high-stakes tech gadget 
. and for what? so we can say we've got the upper hand? 
all I'm sayin is, before we jump to conclusions and start buildin up some narrative around this whole thing, let's take a step back and think about the bigger picture 
.
I'm really worried about this whole situation... it's like, we're already living in a spy thriller 
and now this thing is just floating around collecting our secrets. And the fact that they could potentially wipe the data from the balloon's servers is just mind-blowing 
. It's not even a stretch to think that China has been doing this for years, like you said... at least two dozen missions already! 
What if we're walking into a surveillance state and we don't even know it? We need to stay vigilant and demand more transparency from our governments about their intelligence gathering activities. It's time to get serious about national security 
meanwhile they've got like 2 dozen spy missions under their belt and you're still trying to figure out what info one little balloon brought back? 
sounds like someone's trying to hide something... or maybe it's just a super advanced weather balloon with some extra special spy sauce 
either way, this whole thing feels a bit fishy 
. and what exactly did this thing pick up? some signals intel maybe, but is it really worth all the fuss? i mean, china already has satellites capable of doing that stuff anyway... 
doesn't seem like a game-changer to me 
. I mean, the US is super paranoid about this stuff, but what if China's not actually trying to spy on us? 
. Like, the US has been tracking these balloons for years, but are they really sure they know everything that's going on? 
. I don't know, maybe I'm just overthinking this whole thing 
...
i mean, can't they be honest for once? 