The US The military and intelligence communities had been monitoring the Chinese spy balloon Since its inception from Base on Hainan Island near the southern coast of China — and officials are now looking into the possibility that it may have drifted off courseAccording to an article.
US All officials told the Washington Post On Tuesday, the balloon shot down off The coast of South Carolina was monitored almost a full week prior to it entering earlier in the month. US It initially seemed that the surveillance was in airspace balloon was Before it made an unanticipated turn north, Guam was heading towards Guam.
Analysts in Intelligence aren’t sure if the balloon’s sharp turn north was Whether the surveillance device was intentionally or accidentally, we believe it. was Most likely, it is on the way spy US Before the path of the Pacific changed suddenly, military installations were there.
The balloon wound up floating over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28 and then entered Canada before strong winds appear to have pushed it south into the continental US on Jan. 31, the officials told the Washington Post, adding that analysts are examining the possibility that China didn’t intentionally direct the spy To penetrate the US mainland.
But once the line was crossed, it was gone. US Canada border US officials say Beijing took advantage of the opportunity to gather intelligence and directed the craft to loiter over Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, which houses one-third of the country’s land-based nuclear missile arsenal.
The following are the balloon It hovered above the Big Sky State, it was Civilians spotted it.
An older person US official told the Washington Post that China’s balloon It seems that surveillance programs are intended for this purpose. “augment the satellite systems” The communist country is in existence and it continues to be so “part of a larger set of programs that are about gaining greater clarity about military facilities in the United States and in a variety of other countries.”
The People’s Liberation Army Air Force was The task of launching the balloon from Hainan IslandThe report states that it was. According to the report, was Outfitted with propellers as well as a rudder for maneuverability. was According to the outlet, air currents are partly responsible.
US Washington Post: Official said that the official was downed balloon’s payload, described as the size of three school buses, has still not been analyzed but that “it doesn’t look like it’s a dramatic new capability.”
“It looks like it’s more collection — everybody always wants more,” The official stated.
US Intelligence officials don’t believe three additional objects were shot down during the weekend. US military aircraft were tied to China’s spy balloon John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council, told reporters on Tuesday that program was being implemented.
Karine Jean-Pierre, White House press secretary, said Tuesday “the intelligence community is considering as a leading explanation that these could be tied to commercial or research entities and benign.”
