Published February 24, 2024
- The military dispatched jets to investigate
- It was not deemed to be a threat
- Chinese spy balloon last year sparked a diplomatic incident with China
The U.S. military is tracking yet another balloon over the western United States, a year after a Chinese spy balloon provoked a diplomatic crisis.
The military dispatched aircraft to investigate the situation, CBS news reported, adding that it has not been determined to be a threat.
Like the spy balloon that entered U.S. airspace and slowly made its way across the U.S., the current balloon was spotted in Colorado.
The spy balloon that entered U.S. airspace over Alaska in January eventually flew over a U.S. military base in Montana. It wasn’t until it was over the Atlantic that the military shot it down off the coast of South Carolina, citing security risks of downing it over land.
Republicans criticized President Joe Biden for not having it downed sooner. The incident prompted a period when the military shot down other unidentified objects.
The earlier incident forced Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a planned trip to China while criticizing it as an ‘irresponsible act.’
Biden in June said he didn’t think ‘the leadership knew where it was and knew what was in it and knew what was going on,’ calling it ‘more embarrassing than it was intentional.’
The White House and the Pentagon had no immediate comment.
The balloon is being carried east by the Jet Stream, which boasted near record wind speeds last week, allowing a Virgin Atlantic transatlantic flight to top 800 miles per hour.
It is crossing while Biden already has his hands full with other foreign policy challenges. On Friday he appealed to House Republican leaders to bring lawmakers back to vote on a stalled package to provide $60 billion to aid Ukraine.
He met this week with the wife of slain Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. There are reports Ukrainian forces are rationing ammunition while facing continued Russian attacks. And Israel’s war on Gaza is leading to continued civilian casualties while posing political problems for Biden as he faces more primary election tests.
Last year’s incident brought forth information on a series of sightings. Some earlier incidents were dated back to the Trump administration.
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SOURCE: www.dailymail.co.uk
RELATED: UFO or Chinese Spy? US Official unidentified ‘balloon’, says, ‘it doesn’t…’
FILE – In this image provided by the Department of Defense, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, a U.S. Air Force U-2 pilot looks down at a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon as it hovers over the United States on Feb. 3, 2023. A small and nonthreatening balloon spotted flying high over the mountainous Western United States was intercepted by fighter jets over Utah, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command. (Department of Defense via AP, File) (AP)
Published February 24, 2024
A small balloon was seen flying over the western United States on Friday, according to the North American Aerospace Defense Command(NORAD).
As reported by the Associated Press, citing NORAD spokesperson John Cornelio, NORAD sent fighter pilots to probe and noted that it “did not pose any threat to the national security”.
However, there has been an increase in attention drawn to sightings of balloons traversing the United States following the military’s interception and destruction of a Chinese surveillance balloon that traversed a significant portion of the nation last year.
Moreover, authorities have clarified that the balloon intercepted on Friday was not dispatched by a foreign adversary and does not present a danger to aviation or national security.
However, NORAD remained silent on the origin or purpose of the balloon observed flying over Utah and Colorado.
Earlier this year, American authorities destroyed a sizable, white surveillance balloon from China off the South Carolina coast. The Pentagon asserted that this balloon was a component of an extensive surveillance initiative that China had been undertaking for “several years.”
China responded that it reserved the right to “take further actions” and criticized the US for “an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.”
Moreover, the presence of the Chinese surveillance balloon became a significant diplomatic issue between the United States and China, leading Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a planned visit to Beijing in February 2023.
Blinken later undertook the trip in June in an attempt to alleviate escalating tensions, which encompassed various concerns such as the balloon incident and China’s increasingly assertive behaviour in the South China Sea.
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SOURCE: www.livemint.com
RELATED: BREAKING: US Military is Tracking High-Altitude Balloon Over Colorado – Pentagon Scrambles Jets to Investigate
Published February 23, 2024
Chinese spy balloon spotted over US airspace in 2023
Here we go again.
The US Military is tracking a high-altitude balloon over Colorado. The Pentagon sent jets to investigate.
“The balloon was intercepted by NORAD fighters over Utah, who determined it was not maneuverable and did not present a threat to national security. NORAD will continue to track and monitor the balloon,” NORAD said in a statement. “The FAA also determined the balloon posed no hazard to flight safety.”
The balloon’s origin and purpose is unclear.
CBS reported:
The U.S. is tracking a high-altitude balloon flying over the Western part of the country, U.S. officials told CBS News. Military aircraft have spotted the balloon and determined it is not a threat, but its origin and purpose are still unknown, the officials said.
Sources familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the balloon was drifting east in the jetstream on Friday. Earlier in the day, one official said the balloon was over Colorado. Its presence prompted enough concern that the military sent aircraft to investigate.
Last January the Biden administration knew about the Chinese spy balloon traversing across the continental United States, from Alaska to the Carolinas, but sought to conceal this from the American public.
A newspaper photographer first spotted the balloon over Montana.
The Chinese spy balloon first entered US airspace over Alaska in late January 2023.
The balloon soared over nuclear silos and military installations across the US with Joe Biden’s full approval.
The balloon was eventually shot down over the Atlantic just off the coast of the Carolinas.
According to the Pentagon, the spy balloon carried explosives to self-detonate, was 200 feet tall, and weighed thousands of pounds.
