A Chinese spy balloon was able to transmit information back to Beijing in real-time, raising questions about the extent of intelligence it gathered that has not been shared with the US. The balloon, which first entered US airspace over Alaska in late January, was capable of capturing imagery and collecting signals intelligence from US military sites.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the balloon's path was predictable, allowing the US to take steps to protect sensitive sites and censor some signals before it could pick them up. However, despite these precautions, the balloon was still able to transmit information back to Beijing in real-time.
The US government is still assessing whether Chinese officials were able to wipe the balloon's data as they received it, raising concerns that there may be intelligence gathered by the balloon that has not been shared with Washington. The incident further escalated tensions between the two countries, including the postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China.
The surveillance program used by China to deploy these balloons is believed to be run out of the Chinese province of Hainan. While the exact size of the fleet is unknown, sources tell CNN that at least 24 missions have been conducted over five continents in recent years, with roughly half a dozen flights within US airspace.
China has maintained that the balloon was simply a weather balloon thrown off course, but officials believe that China did maintain some ability to maneuver the balloon. Once it entered Montana, China appeared to take advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence.
The incident highlights the growing concern about Chinese surveillance activities in the US and around the world. As the US continues to assess the extent of the intelligence gathered by the balloon, one thing is clear: the use of spy balloons like this is a serious national security threat that will not be taken lightly.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the balloon's path was predictable, allowing the US to take steps to protect sensitive sites and censor some signals before it could pick them up. However, despite these precautions, the balloon was still able to transmit information back to Beijing in real-time.
The US government is still assessing whether Chinese officials were able to wipe the balloon's data as they received it, raising concerns that there may be intelligence gathered by the balloon that has not been shared with Washington. The incident further escalated tensions between the two countries, including the postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China.
The surveillance program used by China to deploy these balloons is believed to be run out of the Chinese province of Hainan. While the exact size of the fleet is unknown, sources tell CNN that at least 24 missions have been conducted over five continents in recent years, with roughly half a dozen flights within US airspace.
China has maintained that the balloon was simply a weather balloon thrown off course, but officials believe that China did maintain some ability to maneuver the balloon. Once it entered Montana, China appeared to take advantage of its position to loiter over sensitive sites and try to collect intelligence.
The incident highlights the growing concern about Chinese surveillance activities in the US and around the world. As the US continues to assess the extent of the intelligence gathered by the balloon, one thing is clear: the use of spy balloons like this is a serious national security threat that will not be taken lightly.
. I mean, come on, we're supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave, but we can't even keep a Chinese spy balloon out of our airspace? It's like they're saying, "Hey, US, you're not worthy of trust." 
. I'm calling BS on that one. If China wants to spin it as an accident, why would they be so upfront about it? It's all just a big PR stunt to distract us from the real issue: our nation's security vulnerabilities.
. Where are the tough questions being asked? Why haven't we been holding our officials accountable for their failure to protect our airspace? It's time for some serious action, not just empty rhetoric and diplomatic posturing 
.
. Not on my watch! 
so China's got these spy balloons flying around everywhere collecting intel and it's like they're just gonna wipe the data and pretend nothing happened? 
that doesn't seem right to me, especially with how predictable their path was... I mean, you'd think they'd want to avoid getting caught in the first place. And what's up with all these missions over US airspace? Like 24 or something? That's a lot of eyeballs on us 
. I'm all for a fair and transparent approach to diplomacy and intel gathering... can't we just have an open conversation about this instead of escalating tensions? 
... how did they not detect it sooner? The fact that it was able to transmit info back to Beijing in real-time is just crazy 
. And now we're left wondering what exactly China got out of this operation 
.
, that just shows how serious this is 
. We need to take action and not just rely on " assessments" 
... we need concrete answers 
.
... yeah right 
. It's like they wanted us to think that, but really they've been doing this for years and we just now realized it 
. Anyway, one thing is for sure: these spy balloons are not a joke 
.
i mean, we knew this was happenin but still, it's another level when they're just casually loiterin' over our military sites. 
need to step up our own game if we wanna stay one step ahead... 
... meanwhile, our own government is all "oh no, we didn't know" 
. And what's even more concerning is that this isn't an isolated incident - they've got a whole fleet of these things flying around, collecting data left and right 
.
. We need to know what kind of data they've got on us before they start playing it like they already have the upper hand. Can't let them get away with that, you feel me? 
. The US government needs to get its act together and figure out what we can do to stop this kind of thing from happening again... this is a serious national security threat that will not be ignored 
.
Not to mention, this is just the tip of the iceberg - I bet there are even more secret programs like this in place that we have no idea about. 
. i'm all for being aware of our surroundings but this is just another layer of distrust between our countries. we need to stay vigilant but also try to figure out what we can do to prevent something like this from happening again 
And what's with all the sneaky stuff China does? Like, are we just not good at stopping it or something? 
I mean, we know they're doing some kind of surveillance, but 24 missions over five continents? That's a lot! 
Not funny China. We need to get to the bottom of this and figure out what's really going on. 
The US thought they could just predict its path and censor some signals but apparently not enough to stop the transmission 
. And now we're dealing with the aftermath of a diplomatic visit being postponed because of this... 
It's getting serious, folks! China's got this surveillance program going on and it's like, super concerning 
. This is def not something to be taken lightly, especially with tensions between the US and China already running high 
How do they even do that tech? And what are the implications for US national security? It's definitely not something to be taken lightly.