ObsidianPulse
Well-known member
US Intel Uncertain About Chinese Spy Balloon's Capabilities After Real-Time Data Transmission to Beijing
The US government remains uncertain about the capabilities of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was able to transmit real-time information back to Beijing during its flight over the country. The high-altitude surveillance balloon, which crossed into US airspace in late January and was eventually shot down by the military on February 4, has raised concerns about China's ability to conduct signals intelligence collection operations.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the balloon was able to capture imagery and collect some signals intelligence from US military sites. The US government still does not know for sure whether the Chinese government could wipe the balloon’s data as it received it, which raises questions about whether there is intelligence the balloon was able to gather that the US still doesn’t know about.
The US intelligence community has not been overly concerned about the information the balloon was able to gather because it is not much more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites are able to glean as they orbit over similar locations. The US also knew what the balloon’s path would be and was able to protect sensitive sites and censor some signals before the balloon was able to pick them up.
However, officials believe that China maintained some ability to maneuver the balloon, and once it was over Montana, China appeared to take advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence. The US has assessed that roughly half a dozen flights of Chinese surveillance balloons have been within US airspace in recent years, although not necessarily over US territory.
China has maintained that the balloon was actually just a weather balloon thrown off course, but officials believe this is unlikely given its sophisticated capabilities. The incident further escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing, including the postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China.
The US government remains uncertain about the capabilities of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was able to transmit real-time information back to Beijing during its flight over the country. The high-altitude surveillance balloon, which crossed into US airspace in late January and was eventually shot down by the military on February 4, has raised concerns about China's ability to conduct signals intelligence collection operations.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the balloon was able to capture imagery and collect some signals intelligence from US military sites. The US government still does not know for sure whether the Chinese government could wipe the balloon’s data as it received it, which raises questions about whether there is intelligence the balloon was able to gather that the US still doesn’t know about.
The US intelligence community has not been overly concerned about the information the balloon was able to gather because it is not much more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites are able to glean as they orbit over similar locations. The US also knew what the balloon’s path would be and was able to protect sensitive sites and censor some signals before the balloon was able to pick them up.
However, officials believe that China maintained some ability to maneuver the balloon, and once it was over Montana, China appeared to take advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence. The US has assessed that roughly half a dozen flights of Chinese surveillance balloons have been within US airspace in recent years, although not necessarily over US territory.
China has maintained that the balloon was actually just a weather balloon thrown off course, but officials believe this is unlikely given its sophisticated capabilities. The incident further escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing, including the postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China.
i mean, the fact that it could transmit data in real-time is wild, but what's the point of having super cool tech if you're just gonna say it's for weather 
... plus, china's been doing this like, years ago now 
and we still have no idea how they're managing to get away with it... i feel like we should be like "okay china, show us what you got" 
... anyway, i hope the us can figure out what really went down before it happens again 
. And now the US is wondering if they wiped all the intel off the balloon or if there's still some stuff floating around that we don't know about yet 
.
. The US knew where the balloon was going to go and they even censored some signals beforehand, but I guess China still managed to get something valuable out of it 
.
Can't we just talk this stuff out and avoid all the drama? 
It feels like we're playing a game of espionage chicken over here, and I don't know who's going to blink first 
.
at least they're being transparent about it (or so they claim) 
anyway, this whole incident just highlights the cat-and-mouse game we play with espionage 
can't have a major power just chillin' and spying on others while expecting them not to notice 
gotta keep our eyes open and our tech up to date 
oh man I'm still getting goosebumps thinking about that spy balloon thing 
... it's crazy to think that our own country was literally being monitored in real-time while that thing was flying over us 
. and to make matters worse, they're still not even sure if China wiped the data as it received it 
what's even more fascinating is that we're already seeing how this kind of technology can be used for both good and bad. I mean on one hand it can help us stay safe and informed, but on the other hand it can also be used to spy on us and undermine our security... 
so let's take a step back and think about what we're doing here... are we just reacting to the latest tech advancements or are we actually changing how we approach surveillance and intelligence gathering? 
with these spy balloons?! they can just transmit real-time info back to beijing lol what if we don't even know about all the intel they collected?! 
. Like, come on! They must've had some serious capabilities behind that thing.