US spy balloon's real-time transmission capabilities raise questions about intelligence gathering. According to a source, the Chinese spy balloon that entered US airspace earlier this year was able to capture imagery and collect signals intelligence from sensitive military sites like Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana.
The balloon was reportedly able to transmit information back to Beijing in real time, although it's unclear whether the data could be wiped as it received it. This has sparked concerns about what other intelligence the US may not know about due to the balloon's capabilities.
However, the US intelligence community doesn't seem overly concerned, citing that the signals intelligence collected by the balloon is similar to what Chinese satellites can gather in orbit over similar locations.
A recent study has shown that Chinese surveillance balloons are often operated from the small province of Hainan, with at least two dozen missions conducted over five continents in recent years. Half a dozen of those flights have been within US airspace, although not necessarily over US territory.
China claims the balloon was just a weather balloon thrown off course, but officials believe it had some ability to maneuver and took advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and collect intelligence once it entered Montana's airspace.
The incident has further escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing, including the postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China.
The balloon was reportedly able to transmit information back to Beijing in real time, although it's unclear whether the data could be wiped as it received it. This has sparked concerns about what other intelligence the US may not know about due to the balloon's capabilities.
However, the US intelligence community doesn't seem overly concerned, citing that the signals intelligence collected by the balloon is similar to what Chinese satellites can gather in orbit over similar locations.
A recent study has shown that Chinese surveillance balloons are often operated from the small province of Hainan, with at least two dozen missions conducted over five continents in recent years. Half a dozen of those flights have been within US airspace, although not necessarily over US territory.
China claims the balloon was just a weather balloon thrown off course, but officials believe it had some ability to maneuver and took advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and collect intelligence once it entered Montana's airspace.
The incident has further escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing, including the postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China.
it's like we're caught off guard all the time. and what really gets me is that china has been doing this for years already... they've got a whole operation set up in hainan, i mean, that's not something you just stumble upon. 
. And don't even get me started on how many times this thing has flown into US airspace - that's got to raise some major red flags 
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. I'd think they'd be all up in arms about getting caught with their spy balloons 
. But I guess when you're a global superpower, you can just kinda... roll with it? 
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... like i get that we need to be on our toes for national security and all but can't we just have some transparency about what's going on? it feels like the US is being kinda chill about it while china is trying to play it off as a weather balloon lol, meanwhile, our military sites are basically sitting ducks 
. how many other secrets are they hiding from us? and what does this say about our trust in our own intelligence agencies? 
its like china's got their own little spy agency goin on over there. idk how much we r actually gonna find out about this whole thing, but one t'ing is 4 shure... it's not good 4 the relations between us and china 
. i mean, how many times can we get surprised by china's sneaky moves? 
. i'm keeping an eye on this situation for sure 
what other intel do we not know about? plus china's been doing this kinda thing for years with at least 2 dozen missions 
and half of those were over us airspace. its like theyre testing our radar or somethin. and Blinken's visit getting postponed? thats just more proof that china's all up in our grill 
This whole situation is so shady 
I mean, can't we all just get along? 
It's crazy to think that there are these high-tech spy balloons flying around collecting intel without us even knowing it's happening 
. And the fact that China is denying any wrongdoing but still has some pretty convincing evidence 
The US should be way more concerned about this than they are 
...the thought of those signals being intercepted and transmitted back to Beijing is just not cool 
.
. I mean, what's next? Just gonna let them keep doing whatever they want and not even bother to warn us? This whole thing is just so shady 
imagine being able to chill in montana and get intel on secret bases wthout even breaking a sweat 
the fact that china can just send up a balloon and do whatever they want is super sketchy, tbh i mean what if it was hacking into our military systems rn? 
It's not like we have complete control over the skies, and now we're finding out that some of these balloons can even loiter around sensitive sites and collect intel in real-time. That's a pretty scary thought! 
. Those Chinese balloons are like little flying surveillance factories... 
? like what's the harm in that? we're basically just saying 'hey china, you can do whatever, just don't actually steal any secrets' 
. btw, if china wants to spy on us that badly, maybe they should just build a wall or something instead of using balloons 
"it was just a weather balloon"? Give me a break! It's clear they were collecting intel and taking advantage of the situation. I'm not surprised tensions are escalating between the US and China though – it feels like we're living in some kind of espionage thriller