A Chinese spy balloon was able to transmit information back to Beijing in real-time, according to a source familiar with the matter. The balloon, which entered US airspace over Alaska in late January, was able to capture imagery and collect signals intelligence from US military sites.
The balloon's transmission capabilities were likely enhanced by its ability to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence once it was over Montana. However, US officials have downplayed the significance of the information the balloon may have gathered, citing that it is not significantly more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites are able to glean as they orbit over similar locations.
The US government still does not know for sure whether the Chinese government could wipe the balloon's data as it received it, raising questions about whether there is intelligence the balloon was able to gather that the US still doesn't know about.
In February, a senior State Department official confirmed that the balloon was "capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations" while it floated across the US. However, Gen. Glen VanHerck, the commander of US Northern Command and NORAD, stated at the time that the US did not assess that the balloon presented a significant collection hazard beyond what already exists in actionable technical means from the Chinese.
The surveillance program, which includes similar balloons operated out of the small Chinese province of Hainan, has conducted at least two dozen missions over at least five continents in recent years. Roughly half a dozen of those flights have been within US airspace, although not necessarily over US territory.
China has maintained that the balloon was just a weather balloon thrown off course, but officials believe that China did maintain some ability to maneuver the balloon and take advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence. 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.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the information gathered by the balloon, the US government has taken steps to protect sensitive military sites and censor some signals before they were picked up by the balloon. The FBI is still examining the balloon, but officials have been able to glean additional information about how the device worked, including the algorithms used for the balloon's software and how it is powered and designed.
The balloon's transmission capabilities were likely enhanced by its ability to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence once it was over Montana. However, US officials have downplayed the significance of the information the balloon may have gathered, citing that it is not significantly more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites are able to glean as they orbit over similar locations.
The US government still does not know for sure whether the Chinese government could wipe the balloon's data as it received it, raising questions about whether there is intelligence the balloon was able to gather that the US still doesn't know about.
In February, a senior State Department official confirmed that the balloon was "capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations" while it floated across the US. However, Gen. Glen VanHerck, the commander of US Northern Command and NORAD, stated at the time that the US did not assess that the balloon presented a significant collection hazard beyond what already exists in actionable technical means from the Chinese.
The surveillance program, which includes similar balloons operated out of the small Chinese province of Hainan, has conducted at least two dozen missions over at least five continents in recent years. Roughly half a dozen of those flights have been within US airspace, although not necessarily over US territory.
China has maintained that the balloon was just a weather balloon thrown off course, but officials believe that China did maintain some ability to maneuver the balloon and take advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence. 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.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the information gathered by the balloon, the US government has taken steps to protect sensitive military sites and censor some signals before they were picked up by the balloon. The FBI is still examining the balloon, but officials have been able to glean additional information about how the device worked, including the algorithms used for the balloon's software and how it is powered and designed.
the chinese spy balloon thing is wild, can't say I'm surprised tbh, china's been building up their surveillance game for a while now... they're just like "hey, we've got satellites, and balloons, and we know how to use them" 
meanwhile the us is all like "oh no, another thing for us to worry about"... 
think we should focus on our own tech game, ya know? 
It's like something out of a movie, right?
. And yeah, maybe that's true, but still... 
I'm just waiting for more info on how this all went down and what we can expect in terms of next steps 
.
! Like, imagine a big ol' orb floating around up there collecting secrets... it's just too much 
The fact that they've taken steps to protect sensitive military sites but not revealed all the details is kinda shady 
. And can we talk about how a weather balloon turned into a spy gadget for China? 
It's just crazy! 
. And the US is all like "oh, we didn't think much of it" but I'm sure they're itching to know what they missed out on 
. And now this one has left them scrambling, trying to figure out what they might've missed 
. It's not like China is hiding something in plain sight (although, that would be pretty suspicious). Maybe we should just try to understand where each other's coming from and work together to find some common ground 
? Just a thought 
and we're just finding out now 
. i mean, seriously though, china's been doing this for years now, it's not like they're hiding under a rock or something 
. but i guess the US didn't know about it until... well, actually we kinda knew, but just didn't think much of it 
.
... I mean, we've been talking about this for years and China just gets a slap on the wrist? It's like we're all playing a game of cat and mouse, with China just messing around our airspace 
. Can someone please explain to me how we can even stop these things? 
This whole thing feels fishy to me... I mean, a weather balloon just happens to be carrying a super advanced signals intel collection system? 
. They've got this whole surveillance program going on and they're not afraid to use it to get intel on us. And let's be real, if they can just wipe the data from that balloon like they claim, then what else are we missing out on? 
. We can't let our guard down just because China's trying to make a big show out of this whole thing. We need to keep pushing back and making sure that our military sites are secure 
.
. The fact that it was able to capture imagery and signals from US military sites is super concerning, but not exactly a huge surprise given China's history with espionage and surveillance.