Chinese Spy Balloon: The Pentagon alleged that a Chinese “spy balloon” the size of “three buses” was spotted in United States airspace on Thursday, February 3. This comes days ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s scheduled visit to Beijing.
Speaking to the media, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the US has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is currently flying over the country’s continental shelf.
“The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is continuously tracking and monitoring it. The balloon was spotted over Montana and is said to be the size of three buses,” he added. According to Ryder, after Ballon was discovered the US government took immediate action to protect against the collection of sensitive information.
President Biden informed about the incident
They said the balloon was traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical danger to people on the ground. Meanwhile, a senior defense official said that President Joe Biden has been briefed about the incident and the Pentagon is considering various options.
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Officials said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, and Gen. Glenn VanHerk, of the US Northern Command, have recommended “not to take dynamic action” because of the potential risk to the safety and security of people on the ground from the possible debris field. .
“Our assessment is that this balloon has limited additive value from an intelligence collection perspective. But we are still taking steps to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information,” the defense official said.
(with inputs from AP)