According to the Pentagon, an aircraft suspected of being a Chinese spy balloon has been spotted in United States airspace. Here’s what we know about this information that has alerted the Army and American and Canadian intelligence agencies.
• Also read: Suspected Chinese spy balloon flies over North America
A US defense official said the balloon entered US airspace “a few days ago” but its exact location has not been released.
The balloon flew over the Aleutian Islands in the north Pacific and then crossed Canadian airspace into the United States, where it flew over the state of Montana at a much higher altitude than planes, according to US media, citing defense officials.
According to these sources, it was the size of three buses combined.
“We have no doubt that this is a PRC balloon,” said a senior Pentagon official, who requested anonymity and used the acronym for the People’s Republic of China.
In Beijing, the Chinese government assured that this information would be “verified”.
“Speculating and exacerbating the situation before the facts are even known does not help to resolve the file properly,” warned a spokeswoman for the Federal Foreign Office.
“The question that arises is: ‘Is it a spy balloon or a drifted scientific platform?'” Xavier Pasco, director of the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) and specialist on space issues, told AFP.
According to the Pentagon official, its trajectory flew over a number of sensitive locations. “Obviously he was browsing these sites to gather information.
Montana is notably home to nuclear missile silos.
The balloon is big enough that when it is destroyed, debris will land that could endanger residents, US officials said.
The Pentagon considered several options, including crashing the balloon as it flew over a sparsely populated area, but felt the risk was too great, according to a senior defense official.
“Does it pose a threat to civil aviation? We believe this is not the case. Does he represent a significantly increased threat from an intelligence point of view? Our assessment at this point is that this is not the case,” he added.
“We believe it wasn’t worth taking the risk of shooting him down, even if it’s low (…).”
China has sent many balloons over the United States in recent years, the senior Pentagon official said.
However, this is the first time a Chinese balloon has stayed in US airspace for so long.
Tethered airships and balloons have long been used for military, espionage, and surveillance purposes. They were particularly widespread during the First World War.
But the conquest of space and advances in aviation have allowed satellites and spy planes to monitor enemy territory more reliably.
However, balloons are a cheap way to get information.
“In the future, we will have balloons overhead for several months in a row, which could endanger our activities at a lower cost than in space,” said General Frédéric Parisot, deputy chief of the French Air Force.