Tag: Balloons (Aeronautics)

Balloon Incident Reveals More Than Spying as Competition With China Intensifies

Chin@Strategy

Of course, there is nothing new about superpowers spying on one another, even from balloons. President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorized surveillance of the Soviet Union by lofting cameras on balloons in the mid-1950s, flying them “over Soviet bloc countries under the guise of meteorological research,” according to an article published by the National Archives in 2009. It “yielded more protests from the Kremlin than it did useful intelligence,” the author, David Haight, an archivist at the Eisenhower Library, reported. With the advent of the first spy satellites, the balloons appeared…

Navy Divers Work to Recover Debris From Chinese Spy Balloon

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — Navy divers were working to locate portions of the debris from the Chinese spy balloon that a U.S. fighter jet shot down six miles off the coast of South Carolina, defense officials said on Sunday. The recovery effort, which is expected to take days, began not long after debris from the balloon hit the water, a defense official said. He added that a Navy ship arrived on the scene soon after the balloon was shot down, and that other Navy and Coast Guard ships, which had been put…

China’s Spy Balloon Drifted for 7 Days Across U.S.: A Timeline

Chin@Strategy

The president had been discussing military options with the Pentagon since Tuesday, when he was alerted by the Pentagon that a spy balloon had entered the continental American airspace near Idaho. By Wednesday, the balloon was hovering over Montana, and a full-blown diplomatic crisis was underway. The arrival — and extended stay — of the balloon over American territory prompted furious calls from senior U.S. officials to their Chinese counterparts, and the cancellation of Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s planned visit to China. Here’s a day-by-day timeline of the…

Downing of Chinese Spy Balloon Ends Chapter in a Diplomatic Crisis

Chin@Strategy

Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, alerted Mr. Biden. By Wednesday, when the balloon had made its way to the skies above Billings, Mont., Pentagon officials were alarmed because the state is home to the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, one of three U.S. Air Force bases that operate and maintain intercontinental ballistic missiles. One Pentagon official described shock at what officials viewed as a blatant, and poorly concealed, effort at spying. A senior Biden administration official called the move audacious.…

U.S. Shoots Down Chinese Spy Balloon Off the Coast of the Carolinas

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The United States shot down a Chinese spy balloon on Saturday that had spent the last week traversing the country, American officials said, an explosive end to a drama that put a diplomatic crisis between the world’s two great powers onto television screens in real time. The balloon, which spent five days traveling in a diagonal southeast route from Idaho to the Carolinas, had moved off the coast by midday Saturday and was over the Atlantic Ocean. The Federal Aviation Administration had paused departures and arrivals at airports…

Before Balloon Sighting, Classified Report Highlighted Foreign Surveillance Tech

Chin@Strategy

WASHINGTON — The Chinese spy balloon floating over the continental United States generated deep concern on Capitol Hill in part because it came on the heels of a classified report to Congress that outlined incidents of American adversaries potentially using advanced technology to spy on the country. The classified report to Congress last month discussed at least two incidents of a rival power conducting aerial surveillance with what appeared to be unknown cutting-edge technology, according to U.S. officials. While the report did not attribute the incidents to any country, two…

A Giant Balloon Was Spotted in Montana. It’s All Anyone Can Talk About.

Chin@Strategy

HELENA, Mont. — Larry Mayer, a newspaper photographer, pointed his camera to the sky on Wednesday and began snapping pictures of what appeared to be a mysterious white orb hanging in the sky over Billings, Mont. He didn’t know what he was looking at, but he knew something was up — way up, like 60,000 feet up. “They shut down the airport and wouldn’t let anyone land or take off, but wouldn’t say why,” said Mr. Mayer, who works for The Billings Gazette and is also a pilot. By the…

U.S. Detects Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Hovering Over Northwest

Chin@Strategy

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has postponed his trip to China after a surveillance balloon was detected flying over the U.S. Read the latest. WASHINGTON — The United States has detected what it says is a Chinese surveillance balloon that has been hovering over the northwestern United States, the Pentagon said on Thursday, a discovery that comes days before Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken’s visit to Beijing. President Biden has chosen, for now, not to shoot down the balloon after a recommendation from Pentagon officials that doing so would…