Three objects, including one described by Washington as a Chinese spy balloon, were shot down over the United States or Canada in a week. Here’s what we know about these mysterious invaders.
• Also read: Flying object shot down: Justin Trudeau on the way to the Yukon
• Also read: China’s balloon “apparently” equipped with spy tools
• Also read: How is China spying on the United States?
– A ball and two objects
On February 2, the Pentagon announced that it was tracking a balloon flying at high altitude over United States territory and sensitive military locations.
For Washington, it is undoubtedly a Chinese spy balloon that entered American territory a few days ago. Beijing replies that it is a civilian aircraft used for research purposes, mainly meteorological purposes.
On February 4, the American army shot down the balloon off South Carolina (southeast).
Then, on February 10, Washington announced that it had shot down an “object” flying at high altitude over Alaska.
“We don’t know who owns it, whether it’s a state or a company or an individual (…). And we don’t understand its usefulness right now,” a White House spokesman said.
The next day, Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that an “unidentified object” had been shot down over northwest Canada as part of a joint operation between Washington and Ottawa.
– Size and details
The three ships were shot down by US F-22 fighters using AIM-9X missiles, authorities said.
The Chinese balloon was about 60 meters high and carried a kind of giant basket weighing more than a ton, according to the Pentagon. Its size would be comparable to that of three buses.
A senior US State Department official said the ship has “numerous antennas, a set likely capable of collecting and locating communications” and is “fitted with solar panels large enough to provide power.” , which is required for the operation of several sensors to collect information”.
The other objects were about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, officials said.
Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer, who received information from the White House on the matter, said Sunday that the last two objects were also likely balloons.
Unlike the Chinese balloon, the second object appeared to have neither a propulsion system nor controls to steer it, according to the White House.
The third was a “cylindrical device,” according to Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand. He was shot in the Yukon, about 100 miles from the Canada-US border.
Both flew at an altitude of around 12,000 meters and posed a potential threat to the safety of civilian flights, according to authorities in both countries.
Washington has since claimed that Beijing sent three planes into the American skies for brief incursions during Donald Trump’s presidency, as well as one early in Joe Biden’s tenure – and that they went undetected at the time.
– debris analysis
American authorities are still busy recovering the remains of the Chinese balloon in the Atlantic Ocean near the South Carolina coast using planes, boats and small submarines.
An official with the FBI, the agency responsible for their investigation, recently stated that only a “small portion” of the surveillance equipment had been seized.
She is being studied at federal police labs in Quantico, Virginia, he added.
What has been recovered so far has been floating on the sea surface, he said. Most of the equipment, including the large solar panels, sank to a depth of 14 meters.
The object shot down over Alaska saw debris fall on frozen water near the Canadian border, the White House said.
The search continued on Saturday near the American city of Deadhorse. “Arctic weather conditions, including cold, snow and limited daylight, are a factor,” the military said.
Regarding the third object, according to Justin Trudeau, Canadian forces “will now recover and analyze the debris.”
– Why these objects now?
According to experts, American and Canadian intelligence agencies continuously receive huge amounts of data and are primarily on the lookout for potential missiles, not slow objects like balloons.
“The truth is… most of what we were looking for didn’t look like balloons. Now, of course, we’re looking for her. So I think we’re finding more things,” Democrat-elect Jim Himes, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday.
The United States believes the balloon was controlled by the Chinese military and was part of a fleet sent by Beijing to more than 40 countries on five continents for spying purposes.
For some analysts, this could be the start of a major Chinese spy operation to map foreign military capabilities ahead of a possible rise in tensions around Taiwan in the years to come.