Yahoo Finance Spy balloon – live: Biden to address nation on downed aerial ‘objects’
Joe Biden is expected to deliver his most in-depth public remarks early on Thursday over the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that entered US airspace, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The US president will use his address to explain how his administration is tackling the issue of aerial balloons and other unidentified objections and the future strategy, NBC news reported today.
His speech is expected to answer swirling questions over the shooting down of aerial objects by the US military as federal investigators salvage and analyse the wreckage.
US agencies tracked a Chinese balloon for several days after it launched from Hainan Island near China’s south coast, though intelligence officials are reportedly considering the possibility that strong air currents may have inadvertently pulled the balloon off its planned course to send it over mainland America.
At least three objects were shot down by American fighter jets in recent days which were likely used for commercial or other “benign” purposes, officials have said.
The Chinese authorities, meanwhile, have continued to deny the balloon was being used for surveillance and suggested they will take “countermeasures”.
Key points
Balloon may have mistakenly – at least partially – entered American heartland
China suggests taking ‘countermeasures’ against US
White House says three unidentified objects believed to be ‘benign’
US military says it has recovered ‘significant’ electronics from downed Chinese ‘spy’ balloon
US military takes down fourth object in a month – this time above Lake Huron
ICYMI: First F-16 missile strike at flying object over Lake Huron missed its target
03:00 , Alex Woodward
US officials confirmed on 14 February that the object above Lake Huron – the third spotted above North American airspace in as many days – was taken down with a second shot when it appeared above the lake on 12 February. The first shot landed in the waters straddling the state of Michigan and the Ontario province of Canada.
First F-16 missile at flying object over Lake Huron missed, US officials confirm
China mocks America’s balloon obsession while seemingly ignoring Ohio
01:00 , Alex Woodward
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying mocked America’s scrutiny into the suspected surveillance balloon, accusing the nation of ignoring the threats posed by the train derailment in Ohio that has sparked widespread contamination fears, with Hua Chunying comparing it to the disaster at Chernobyl.
“Apparently some in the US take a wandering civilian balloon as a big threat while the explosive train derailment and toxic chemical leak Not. #OhioChernobyl,” she wrote on Twitter.
Apparently some in the US take a wandering civilian balloon as a big threat while the explosive train derailment and toxic chemical leak Not. #OhioChernobyl pic.twitter.com/uBEfG3HMXN
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) February 14, 2023
The Independent is covering the Ohio disaster here:
East Palestine scraps town hall as chemicals suspected of causing illness – live
New details emerge about China and US diplomatic attempts to resolve balloon chaos before its destruction
00:00 , Alex Woodward
Emerging details about the decisions made among US and Chinese officials as a balloon made its way across America reveal some confusion and critical misreadings among the world powers that boiled over into partisan battles and media frenzy.
US officials reportedly told The New York Timesthat a self-destruct function did not operate when the Chinese surveillance balloon entered North American airspace over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, though it is unclear whether the operators refused to detonate the device or if it failed.
Officials also told the newspaper that they believe that China then may have been reluctant to detonate the balloon once it was over the mainland, fearing political fallout if the debris had caused any damage below.
It also is unclear whether operators misread wind currents that carried the balloon in and out of American airspace or allowed it to drift to see what it could collect, The Times reported, echoing similar findings from intelligence officials who spoke with The Washington Post.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and deputy secretary Wendy Sherman reportedly issued a formal notice to a senior Chinese diplomat at about 6.30 pm ET on 1 February, telling him that his government must do something about the balloon.
More than 24 hours later, Chinese foreign ministry officials in Beijing spoke privately to diplomats in the US Embassy to tell them the balloon was a harmless civilian machine that had gone off course, according to the newspaper.
Early on 4 February, Chinese officials told their US counterparts that operators were trying to speed it out of the country, but by then the Biden administration was planning to shoot it out of the sky once it reached the coast of South Carolina.
Chinese spy balloon may have drifted into American mainland by mistake
Here is everything we know about the objects shot down by American fighterjets
Wednesday 15 February 2023 23:00 , Alex Woodward
Four objects were shot down by US Air Force fighter jets within eight days across North America.
After an F-22 struck down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on 4 February, US military discovered three other objects in North American airspace within as many days.
What are they, why are we suddenly seeing them, and why did the US shoot them down?
Here’s what we know:
Everything we know about the ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes
Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?
Wednesday 15 February 2023 22:30 , Alex Woodward
They could be “sky trash” or “benign” weather balloons or any number of other objects, and may or may not have come from China.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on 13 February that the US has not yet seen “any indication” that three objects shot down US fighter jets were part of China’s spy balloon program or any other intelligence-collecting efforts.
While the White House and members of Congress stay mum on what they’ve heard in classified briefings, speculation and conspiracy theories are thriving.
The US military, meanwhile, has widened its range of radar data as it monitors North American airspace for objects that might have otherwise been filtered out, with officials comparing their expanded radar search to search filters a prospective car buyer would use to broaden the parameters to find what they’re looking for.
That means objects that have been in US airspace for some time could now literally be on the nation’s radar, revealing information that otherwise would have been filtered out as clutter in the past.
Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?
State Department: US ‘acutely aware’ of China’s ‘challenges’ but relationship has not strained in balloon aftermath
Wednesday 15 February 2023 22:00 , Alex Woodward
Asked about TikTok and the aftermath of the spy balloon, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said the US is “acutely aware” of “challenges” that China presents to the US, pointing to incidents of “espionage” and the “misuse of private or confidential information”.
The US is “determined to do everything we can to counter it,” stressing the importance of maintaining “open lines of communication” between Washington and Beijing.
He also echoed other US officials who are adamant that the balloon incident has not fractured the relationship between the two nations.
“America’s relationship today is where it has been some time,” he told reporters in a briefing on Wednesday, adding that the US relationship with China is “the most complex and consequential we have on the face of the earth.”
“The same could be true of any number of countries around the world in their own bilateral relationship with China,” he said. “We are clear eyed to these areas of competition, and it is competition that we think dominates this relationship.”
The administration has sought to establish “guardrails” to prevent that competition from veering into conflict, he said.
“As two leading powers in the world, there are challenges the world simply cannot address unless the United States and China cooperate together,” he said, pointing to efforts to address the climate crisis as a “prime example” of that necessary cooperation.
State Department: China’s allegations that US deployed balloons are ‘misinformation'
Wednesday 15 February 2023 21:30 , Alex Woodward
Asked to respond to China’s threats of “countermeasures” in the wake of the balloon incident and China’s accusations that the US has deployed spy balloons of its own over the nation, State Department spokesperson Ned Price defended a decision to shoot down the balloon and rejected allegations that the US launched a similar surveillance program.
“The United States is always going to take responsible, prudent and appropriate actions,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “That’s precisely what this government did in response to the PRC violating our sovereignty [and] violating international law by sending a high-altitude surveillance balloon deep into the heartland of the United States.”
Chinese authorities have claimed that the US sent surveillance balloons over China 10 times since May 2022, which the White House and US officials have denied.
“This is not the type of program that the United States is conducting over China,” Mr Price said. “The PRC’s attempts to accuse [the US] of doing the same, it is just more misinformation, disinformation. It is just not true.”
Why some people believe aliens are visiting us right now
Wednesday 15 February 2023 21:00 , Alex Woodward
In the decades after the Roswell incdient, the world has seen a growing interest in UFOs, and where they might have come from. And sceptics have long argued that rather than being any new technology – either of this Earth or another planet entirely – many of those sightings might indeed be weather balloons.
It is fitting, then, that the latest excitement has been prompted by what appear to be observation balloons of some kind, though that is still unconfirmed. And that official secrecy, too, is in keeping with the mystery that has surrounded those objects ever since that material fell to Earth in the New Mexico desert.
The Independent’s Andrew Griffin reports:
UFOs, UAPs and ETs: Why some people believe aliens are visiting us right now
ICYMI: Marjorie Taylor Greene draws wild comparison between Chinese spy balloon and 9/11
Wednesday 15 February 2023 20:30 , Alex Woodward
US military officials contend that it was safer for American fighter jets to shoot down the massive balloon once it crossed into accessible waters rather than shoot it out of the sky while it was potentially a risk to people and buildings below.
But during an event in Idaho over the weekend, far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called the reasoning from the Pentagon “pathetic, absolutely pathetic” and “a bunch of bull****”.
She compared the size of the balloon, which was roughly the size of three buses, to a plane – specifically, the United Airlines jetliner, one of four aircraft hijacked on 9/11. Passengers prevented hijackers from reaching their target in Washington DC by downing the craft in a field, killing all on board.
Marjorie Taylor Greene draws wild comparison between Chinese spy balloon and 9/11
Satellite images reportedly show China’s ‘launch’ facility
Wednesday 15 February 2023 20:00 , Alex Woodward
US intelligence officials believe China’s surveillance balloon launched from its southern province of Hainan, the nation’s largest and most populous island, known as the “Hawaii of China” for its sandy beaches and resorts.
Researchers at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies identified the facility in satellite imagery captured by space imaging firm Planet Labs, according to Rolling Stone.
”We believe this is the best launch site candidate on the island, especially as it has previously hosted aerostats,” Sam Lair, a Middlebury Institute of International Studies researcher, told Rolling Stone.
The facility is surrounded by security fence and “three large radomes” to house radar antennas, according to Lair. Images also appear to show a 140-meter launch pad and other launch equipment, he said.
Japan ‘strongly presumes’ Chinese balloons have entered airspace
Wednesday 15 February 2023 19:45 , Alex Woodward
Japan’s defence ministry has reported that after an “analysis of specific balloon-shaped flying objects previously identified in Japanese airspace, including those in November 2019, June 2020 and September 2021, we have concluded that the balloons are strongly presumed to be unmanned reconnaissance balloons flown by China.”
The statement said that it had “strongly demanded China’s government confirm the facts” of the incident and “that such a situation not occur again in the future”.
“Violations of airspace by foreign unmanned reconnaissance balloons and other means are totally unacceptable,” the statement added.
Now Japan says objects over its airspace could be Chinese spy balloons
Biden could deliver remarks this week on shot-down objects, report says
Wednesday 15 February 2023 19:30 , Alex Woodward
President Joe Biden could deliver remarks this week addressing the Chinese surveillance balloon and three other objects recently shot down by fighter jets in North American airspace.
CNN reports that administration officials are “actively weighing” a potential address, noting that officials have been wary of the president giving public remarks until more information was uncovered.
Members of Congress over the weekend were calling on the administration to provide them with more information on the three latest objects after receiving closed-door briefings on the surveillance craft. Senators were briefed in classified hearings on Tuesday, and Republican Senators later demanded that the president address the public on the issue.
“The American people deserve to hear more from the president on all of these issues,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Tuesday.
Washington’s UFO lobbyist isn’t buying White House denial on extraterrestrials
Wednesday 15 February 2023 19:00 , Alex Woodward
Stephen Bassett has spent years lobbying Washington DC to take UFOs more seriously as the only registered lobbyist demanding that the federal government acknowledge “an extraterrestrial presence engaging the human race,” according to his filing.
After the White House playfully dismissed speculation that aliens had anything to do with recently shot-down objects above North American airspace, he isn’t so sure.
“They’re not saying there is not an extraterrestrial connection,” he told the Washingtonian magazine.
“They’re saying there’s no indication yet. So it’s not a false statement, but it does not rule out extraterrestrials at all. So they’re playing this carefully. I get that,” he added.
He called White House statements suggesting that debris might not be recovered “utterly ludicrous”: “We recovered the Titanic. We’ve recovered submarines. So the idea that this debris may never be recovered is, of course, utterly ludicrous.”
“When I hear things like, ‘We don’t think we can recover the records,’ that gets my attention,” he added. “So this thing is still unknown. It’s unprecedented. It’s exciting. And as long as it advances and increases the intensity and the pressure to get the hearings we’ve been waiting for – the real hearings, the witness hearings –then it’s wonderful.”
Former NORAD director believes balloon and shot-down object are evidence of ‘our adversaries at work’
Wednesday 15 February 2023 18:30 , Alex Woodward
Scott Clancy, a retired major general and the former director of operations for NORAD, told CBC Radio that the Chinese surveillance balloon and three objects recently shot down over North American airspace in as many says are likely signs of “our adversaries at work.”
“There’s something going on here,” he said. “I don’t have any proof behind it, and we’ll wait and see, but it is my estimation that this is the intelligence gathering activities of our adversaries at work.”
He believes that the recent sightings are due to both military agencies taking a closer look at airspace and the frequency of objects being deployed.
“Part of that is that you can detect more. Therefore, you’re going to be in a position to take action more. And, therefore, you do,” he said. “I also think that this is pointing to a concerted and co-ordinated effort by one or some of our adversaries to garner intelligence information over our critical infrastructure, our ability and capacity to respond, and perhaps the political will from Canada and the United States to do something about it.”
Search interest in UFOs and extraterrestrial life has exploded with the latest aerial objects and White House comments
Wednesday 15 February 2023 18:15 , Alex Woodward
Google search interest in “what is in the sky” reached an all-time high in the US this week, and Americans asking if “aliens are real” more than tripled within the past day, after the White House rejected claims that extraterrestrial life forms are responsible for a series of unidentified objects shot down by American fighter jets.
The administration’s own discussion of the topic appeared to inflame social media speculation and fuel conspiracy theories, as officials and experts contend that there is no evidence to support the idea that the objects came from China or another planet. Intelligence officials and analysts have said that the objects are likely to be another kind of aircraft caught up in a broadening radar scope after the Chinese surveillance balloon incident.
But search interest in the US for “extraterrestrial life” is eight times greater than that of “surveillance” over the past day. The most-asked questions are related to shooting down UFOS, how many there are, what aliens are, and what UFO means.
(Unidentified flying object, by the way.)
Top US and China official could meet face to face in Munich
Wednesday 15 February 2023 17:45 , Alex Woodward
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is considering a meeting with Chinese diplomat Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference starting this week, marking what would be the first face-to-face talks between the nations after the US shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on 4 February.
Sources told Reuters that a meeting was possible at some point during the conference, though nothing has been confirmed.
If they don’t meet there, Mr Blinken also could meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang at the G-20 Foreign Ministers meeting in India next month, where both officials are scheduled to attend.
Vice President Harris also is attending the Munich conference, potentially setting up the first in-person encounters between American and Chinese officials after the balloon incident.
US officials including Ms Harris have insisted that the incident has not changed the nation’s relationship with China, though Chinese authorities have repeatedly accused the US of violating international accords and have threatened “countermeasures” after alleging American surveillance balloons were deployed in their own airspace. The White House has denied the allegation.
Defense secretary Lloyd Austin also tried calling his Chinese counterpart in the balloon aftermath, but he refused.
Balloon incident has not impacted US-China relationship, Kamala Harris says
Wednesday 15 February 2023 17:20 , Alex Woodward
Days before White House officials are expected to see top Chinese diplomats for the first time since the US shot down the surveillance balloon, Vice President Kamala Harris says that the incident has not damaged the nation’s relationship with China.
“I don’t think so, no,” she told Politico on Tuesday.
Her remarks come before her departure for Germany, where she will lead a US delegation at the Munich Security Conference, where Chinese officials are expected in attendance.
“We seek competition, but not conflict or confrontation,” she said when asked about the Biden administration’s approach to Beijing. “Everything that has happened in the last week and a half is, we believe, very consistent with our stated approach.”
Ms Harris also is expected to address the conference on Saturday.
Blinken explains why he cancelled his trip to China
Wednesday 15 February 2023 17:00 , Alex Woodward
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he intended to keep lines of communication open with Beijing to reflect the Biden administration’s push for “diplomacy and engagement” with China, but the surveillance balloon sighting did not create the “right conditions” for his trip to China that was abruptly canceled.
“We’re committed to responsibly managing the competition between the United States and China, and we look to Beijing to do the same,” he told NPR.
The balloon incident was an “irresponsible act and a violation of our sovereignty and international law,” he added.
“But it doesn’t take away from the fact that we are committed to finding ways to responsibly manage it. We believe that diplomacy and engagement are important,” Mr Blinken said. “In fact, this only underscores the importance of having lines of communication. That was in part the purpose of the trip I had intended to take, but in the context of the surveillance balloon, those weren’t the right conditions to go forward with the trip.”
The trip was canceled as administration officials weighed their response to the balloon sighting. It was ultimately shot down over the Atlantic Ocean near the coast of South Carolina on 4 February.
The White House has said the trip was not canceled but postponed and stressed that the incident has not stopped diplomats from both countries from keeping up talks and open lines of communcations.
“We still have an embassy there,” the National Security Council’s John Kirby said on Tuesday. “We still have an ability through Secretary Blinken’s good offices to communicate with senior Chinese leaders.”
Hours after the balloon was shot down, however, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s Chinese counterpart refused his call.
Full story: Chinese spy balloon may have drifted into American mainland airspace by mistake, officials reveal
Wednesday 15 February 2023 16:45 , Alex Woodward
A Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down by an American fighter jet may have drifted into the mainland’s airspace at least partially by mistake, officials have revealed.
For one week before it was shot down on the other side of the country, monitors reportedly watched the balloon settle on a flight path that appeared to have sent it towards the US territory of Guam, thousands of miles from Alaska and far from previous Chinese surveillance efforts near military installations in Guam and Hawaii, officials told The Washington Post.
Military officials and the White House are studying whether that apparent sudden turn was intentional.
The paper reported that the balloon’s surprise drift across the US reportedly sparked confusion among Chinese agencies and diplomats, who scrambled to assemble a cover story to describe the aircraft as a civilian weather balloon that had drifted off course. US analysts are apparently examining the possibility that China didn’t intend to enter the US mainland at all, The Post reported.
Chinese spy balloon may have drifted into American mainland by mistake
Biden administration to brief John Bolton on Trump-era balloon incidents
Wednesday 15 February 2023 16:18 , Alex Woodward
Biden administration officials will brief Donald Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton this afternoon on Chinese surveillance balloons that flew into US airspace during the former president’s time in the White House.
Mr Bolton told Politico that he intends to “ask for all the details, top to bottom.”
He said the hearing is scheduled at Liberty Crossing Intelligence Campus in Virginia but he did not disclose who is leading the briefing.
“I want to know whether overflights during the Trump administration were detected or not detected. If they were detected, what were they assessed to be, and who made that assessment? How far up the chain of command did the information and assessments go?” he told Politico.
Following the balloon incident, White House and military officials have revealed that similar crafts briefly entered US airspace during the Trump administration at least three times, as part of what national security officials have described as a years-long Chinese global surveillance program.
Former administration officials have suggested that the Pentagon may have withheld that information from them, if accurate, or have denied that such intelligence was ever passed on to them.
Biden administration enhancements to air surveillance found evidence of previous balloon flights, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
China suggests taking ‘countermeasures’ after US balloon incident
Wednesday 15 February 2023 15:20 , Alex Woodward
Chinese authorities warned on Wednesday that it will take “countermeasures” against US entities after shooting down a suspected surveillance balloon earlier this month.
“China firmly opposes this and will take countermeasures in accordance with the law against the relevant US entities that undermine China’s sovereignty and security,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a briefing, adding that Beijing will “resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and its legitimate rights and interests.”
Wang did not specify what those countermeasures would include or who or what could be targeted.
China also has accused the US of deploying high-altitude balloons over its Xinjiang and Tibet regions after earlier this week claiming that the US sent balloons without permission into its airspace more than 10 times since May 2022.
“Without the approval of relevant Chinese authorities, it has illegally flown at least 10 times over China’s territorial airspace, including over Xinjiang, Tibet and other provinces,” Wang said.
The White House has denied the allegations.
Defense secretary not aware of any other objects in US airspace in last 48 hours
Wednesday 15 February 2023 14:30 , Alex Woodward
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters on Wednesday that he is “not aware of any additional objects that have been reported operating” in North American airspace within the last 48 hours.
The debris from previously shot-down objects, however, is “absolutely important” for US officials to determine what they were and how to develop policy around them.
The US will “do everything we can to recover debris if it’s possible,” he told reporters after a briefing with Nato officials in Brussels.
“That will help us learn a lot more about what these objects are,” he said.
Did China intend to send spy balloon over continental US?
Wednesday 15 February 2023 14:00 , Rachel Sharp
US officials are said to be exploring the possibility that China did not intend to fly its spy balloon over the continental US and Canada earlier this month.
Intelligence officials told The Washington Post that US intelligence agencies had been monitoring the balloon as soon as it left its base on Hainan Island near China’s south coast.
The balloon was under close watch as it began charting its flight path to the US territory of Guam.
But, the craft veered off course along the route, taking it over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Canada and Montana.
It was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on 4 February.
The change in direction indicates that the incident was in part a mistake by Beijing, the Post reported.
Japan says it ‘strongly suspects’ China sent spy balloons to its airspace
Wednesday 15 February 2023 13:30 , Rachel Sharp
Japan has said it “strongly suspects” that China sent spy balloons into its airspace in the past.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday that three “balloon-shaped flying objects” were spotted in Japanese airspace between November 2019 and September 2021.
The ministry said that it “strongly presumed” they were sent by China and that it had asked Beijing about the incidents.
In the same stance given to the balloon that entered US airspace in early February, China denies the allegations.
“We firmly oppose the Japanese side’s smear campaign against China in the absence of conclusive evidence,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press conference.
Jon Tester will lead Senate probe into flying objects
Wednesday 15 February 2023 13:00 , Alex Woodward
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced on Tuesday that Montana Senator Jon Tester will lead probes into the objects that were shot down over North American airspace in recent days.
The Democratic senator led a panel last week to hear from military officials about the ballon that was spotted above his home state near sensitive military sites.
“We still have questions about why they didn’t discover these balloons sooner, these objects sooner,” Mr Schumer said on Tuesday. “Senator Tester is going to lead our caucus in investigating this.”
Mr Tester said on Sunday that the Biden administration and US military need to “have a policy” about unidentified objects in US airspace to recommend to the president to swiftly handle any future incursions.
“What’s been going on the last … 10 days has been nothing short of craziness,” he told CBS Face the Nation. “The military needs to have a plan to not only determine what’s out there, but determine the dangers that go with it.”
China calls Ohio train crash OhioChernobyl as it mocks US for caring too much about spy balloon
Wednesday 15 February 2023 12:30 , Rachel Sharp
The Chinese foreign ministry mocked the United States on Tuesday for its concerns over an alleged Chinese spy balloon while a toxic chemical leak from a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio threatens to become one of the most damaging environmental disasters in the country’s history.
“Apparently some in the US take a wandering civilian balloon as a big threat while the explosive train derailment and toxic chemical leak Not. #OhioChernobyl,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying tweeted.
US officials and national media outlets have thoroughly covered the journey of the alleged spy ballon, which the US shot down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4. Meanwhile a train derailment has forced residents of East Palestine and surrounding communities to vacate their homes.
Read more:
China mocks US for focusing spy balloon during train derailment
‘Leading’ theory is objects are commercial craft or ‘benign’, White House says
Wednesday 15 February 2023 12:00 , Alex Woodward
White House National Security Council strategic communication coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that the “leading” theory behind the three recently shot-down objects are they were used for commercial or other “benign” purposes.
“The intelligence community’s considering as a leading explanation that these could just be balloons tied to some commercial or benign purpose,” he said.
Officials have ruled out that the objects are government vessels, and intelligence suggests they are not linked to China, he said.
“We don’t know of any evidence right now that that confirms that they were in fact doing intelligence collection by another government,” he said.
US tracked Chinese spy balloon since it left Hainan Island – meaning it was under surveillance for week before entering airspace
Wednesday 15 February 2023 11:31 , Rachel Sharp
The US had been tracking the Chinese spy balloon ever since it left Hainan Island near China’s south coast – meaning it was under surveillance for almost a week before it entered American airspace, according to unnamed officials.
The spy balloon was ultimately shot down by the US military on 4 February and officials have been retrieving debris from the Atlantic Ocean for analysis.
But, The Washington Post has now reported that US intelligence agencies were monitoring the balloon as soon as it left its base on Hainan Island and began charting its flight path to the US territory of Guam.
The craft veered off course along the route, taking it over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, Canada and Montana, before it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
Officials told the paper they are exploring the possibility that it was indeed an accident for China to fly over North American airspace.
Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?
Wednesday 15 February 2023 11:00 , Alex Woodward
A massive surveillance balloon that drifted across the US before it was shot down by an American fighter jet is believed to be part of a Chinese military fleet of similar intelligence-gathering aircrafts.
But military and White House officials say there is no indication that three smaller unidentified “objects” that were shot down above North American airspace in as many days are part of the same program, and may not have come from China at all.
The balloon’s intrusion into North American airspace was likely one of several from similar aircrafts in recent years, including three sightings during President Donald Trump’s administration, a revelation that has prompted the military to begin filtering in all kinds of other aerial objects on its radars.
The US military has reportedly widened its range of radar data as it monitors North American airspace for objects that might have otherwise been filtered out, with officials comparing their expanded radar search to search filters a prospective car buyer would use to broaden the parameters to find what they’re looking for.
While the White House tries to tamp down on baseless speculation and conspiracy theories, other US officials and members of Congress, who have received several classified briefings and testimony about the intrusion, continue to suggest that the other objects came from China.
Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?
UFOs, UAPs and ETs: Why some people believe aliens are visiting us right now
Wednesday 15 February 2023 10:00 , Alex Woodward
In the decades after the Roswell incdient, the world has seen a growing interest in UFOs, and where they might have come from. And sceptics have long argued that rather than being any new technology – either of this Earth or another planet entirely – many of those sightings might indeed be weather balloons.
It is fitting, then, that the latest excitement has been prompted by what appear to be observation balloons of some kind, though that is still unconfirmed. And that official secrecy, too, is in keeping with the mystery that has surrounded those objects ever since that material fell to Earth in the New Mexico desert.
The Independent’s Andrew Griffin reports:
UFOs, UAPs and ETs: Why some people believe aliens are visiting us right now
Here is everything we know about the mysterious ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes
Wednesday 15 February 2023 09:00 , Alex Woodward
Four objects were shot down by US Air Force fighter jets within eight days across North America.
After an F-22 struck down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on 4 February, US military discovered three other objects in North American airspace within as many days.
An unidentified object was brought down on 11 February above Alaskan waters. The following day, an American F-22 fighter shot down a “small” and “cylindrical” object hovering 40,000 feet above Canada. One day later, US officials announced a third “object” was shot out of the sky above Lake Huron near Michigan.
What are they, why are we suddenly seeing them, and why did the US shoot them down?
We answer it all, with everything we know, so far:
Everything we know about the ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes
Marjorie Taylor Greene draws wild comparison between Chinese spy balloon and 9/11
Wednesday 15 February 2023 08:00 , Alex Woodward
US military officials contend that it was safer for American fighter jets to shoot down the massive balloon once it crossed into accessible waters rather than shoot it out of the sky while it was potentially a risk to people and buildings below.
But during an event in Idaho over the weekend, far-right congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene called the reasoning from the Pentagon “pathetic, absolutely pathetic” and “a bunch of bull****”.
She compared the size of the balloon, which was roughly the size of three buses, to a plane – specifically, the United Airlines jetliner, one of four aircraft hijacked on 9/11. Passengers prevented hijackers from reaching their target in Washington DC by downing the craft in a field, killing all on board.
Marjorie Taylor Greene draws wild comparison between Chinese spy balloon and 9/11
First F-16 missile strike at flying object over Lake Huron missed, US officials confirm
Wednesday 15 February 2023 07:00 , Alex Woodward
The first missile fired by an American F-16 fighter jet in an attempt to take down an unidentified flying object over Lake Huron missed its target.
US officials confirmed on 14 February that the object - the third spotted above North American airspace in as many days - was taken down with a second shot when it appeared above the lake on 12 February. The first shot landed in the waters straddling the state of Michigan and the Ontario province of Canada.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Mark Milley confirmed the incident in separate briefings with reporters.
First F-16 missile at flying object over Lake Huron missed, US officials confirm
Senate intelligence chair tells The Independent that US needs a better reporting system for knowing what’s in the sky
Wednesday 15 February 2023 06:00 , Alex Woodward and Eric Garcia
Democratic US Senator Mark Warner, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Independent’s Eric Garcia that Americans will have “more information” about the objects that were shot down above North American airspace in the recent days once that debris is collected.
But the US “needs to acknowledge” that “there is not a good reporting system in place that if you’re a weather balloon or commercial balloon or some other kind of activity, you just don’t have that kind of visibility,” he told The Independent on Tuesday.
Mr Warner’s remarks followed classified closed-door briefings with lawmakers at the Capitol on Tuesday to learn more about the objects that were shot down by US Air Force fighter jets over Alaska, the Yukon territory of Canada and Lake Huron in Michigan.
Object over Lake Huron likely passed by sensitive military sites and posed surveillance threat, Pentagon says
Wednesday 15 February 2023 05:00 , Alex Woodward
A statement from the US Department of Defense on Sunday evening reported that President Joe Biden acted on guidance from military officials to shoot down the object that was flying at about 20,000 feet above Lake Huron.
Officials also confirmed that the object was likely the same that was picked up as a radar anomaly over Montana on Saturday night, when the object was “in proximity to sensitive [Department of Defense] sites,” the statement said.
“We did not assess it to be a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it was a safety flight hazard and a threat due to its potential surveillance capabilities,” it continued.
NORAD tracked the object on Sunday morning, and an F-16 jet fired a single Sidewinder missile at about 2.24pm ET.
“Its path and altitude raised concerns, including that it could be a hazard to civil aviation,” according to the statement.
Taking it down over the lake avoided “impact to people on the ground while improving chances for debris recovery,” the Pentagon said.
“There are no indications of any civilians hurt or otherwise affected,” the statement added.
Federal agencies are now working to recover the debris.
ICYMI: Chinese satellite fires green laser beams over Hawaii
Wednesday 15 February 2023 04:00 , Alex Woodward
Astronomers reported that a Chinese satellite fired green laser beams over the US state of Hawaii during mounting between Beijing and Washignton after several foreign objects including a Chinese spy balloon were shot down over the US in recent days.
Scientists at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan captured the mystery beams of light on video through its Subaru-Asahi Star Camera on Mauna Kea back on 28 January.
Footage of the incident shows green laser light beaming over the cloudy sky over Maunakea in Hawaii.
Chinese satellite fires green laser beams over Hawaii
US military recovers ‘significant’ electronics from downed Chinese ‘spy’ balloon
Wednesday 15 February 2023 03:00 , Alex Woodward
US Northern Command reports that crews working at the site of the shot-down Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina “have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure.”
US military recovers ‘significant’ electronics from downed Chinese ‘spy’ balloon
The planes and weapons that brought down objects in North American airspace
Wednesday 15 February 2023 02:00 , Alex Woodward
Two F-22 Raptor fighter jets flew out ofJoint Base Elmendorf in Alaska to take down the unidentified “object” above Alaskan airspace on Friday.
One missile – an AIM-9X Sidewinder – was fired, according to the Pentagon.
Several military planes and helicopters are assisting in the recovery operation.
The military deployed two kinds of helicopters – the HH-60 Pave Hawk and CH-47 Chinook – as well as the HC-130 search-and-rescue plane.
Two F-22 jets tracked another object across Alaska as it entered Canada on Saturday. Canadian CF-18 fighters and CP-140 maritime patrol craft joined the operation. The American jet fired a single Sidewinder missile, bringing the object down roughly 100 miles from the US-Canada border in Canadian territory in central Yukon.
Canada’s defense minister Anita Anand said the operation is likely the first using NORAD to shoot down an object in Canadian airspace.
The following day, two F-16 fighter jets were deployed above Lake Huron in Michigan. A Sidewinder missile was fired but missed, according to military officials and the White House. The missile reportedly landed on the lake. A second missile struck the object.
John Kirby: Recovering shot-down debris will take ‘some time'
Wednesday 15 February 2023 01:00 , Alex Woodward
It could take “some time” before the US recovers materials from several downed objects shot down above US airspace in recent days, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.
Recovery operations are underway off the coast of South Carolina to recover critical materials from the Chinese surveillance balloon, and authorities also are recovering debris from two shot-down objects in Alaskan waters and in Lake Hurson. Canadian authorities also are recovering debris from an object shot down by an American fighter jet in the Yukon territory on Saturday.
“We’re dealing with some pretty tough conditions,” Mr Kirby said. “Lake Huron, which is not a shallow lake and the Yukon wilderness well as sea ice north of the coast of North Alaska ... Even even off the coast of South Carolina when we have been able to take debris up off the bottom ... So we’re up against it when it comes to to just the weather and the general geographic issues.”
He said investigators are doing to “keep at it” in the meantime.
“We’re going to try to get the as much debris as we can because we know that that’s the best way for us to do the forensics on, on these on these objects,” he added.
He stressed that the the US has not yet seen “any indication or anything that points specifically to the idea that these three objects were part of [China’s] spy balloon program, or that they were definitively involved in external intelligence collection efforts.”
Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?
Wednesday 15 February 2023 00:00 , Alex Woodward
A massive surveillance balloon that drifted across the US before it was shot down by an American fighter jet is believed to be part of a Chinese military fleet of similar intelligence-gathering aircrafts.
But military and White House officials say there is no indication that three smaller unidentified “objects” that were shot down above North American airspace in as many days are part of the same program, and may not have come from China at all.
The balloon’s intrusion into North American airspace was likely one of several from similar aircrafts in recent years, including three sightings during President Donald Trump’s administration, a revelation that has prompted the military to begin filtering in all kinds of other aerial objects on its radars.
The US military has reportedly widened its range of radar data as it monitors North American airspace for objects that might have otherwise been filtered out, with officials comparing their expanded radar search to search filters a prospective car buyer would use to broaden the parameters to find what they’re looking for.
While the White House tries to tamp down on baseless speculation and conspiracy theories, other US officials and members of Congress, who have received several classified briefings and testimony about the intrusion, continue to suggest that the other objects came from China.
Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?
China calls Ohio train crash OhioChernobyl as it mocks US for caring too much about spy balloon
Tuesday 14 February 2023 23:30 , Alex Woodward
The Chinese foreign ministry mocked the United States on Tuesday for its concerns over an alleged Chinese spy balloon while a toxic chemical leak from a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio threatens to become one of the most damaging environmental disasters in the country’s history.
Abe Asher reports:
China mocks US for focusing spy balloon during train derailment
Jon Tester will lead Senate probe into flying objects
Tuesday 14 February 2023 23:00 , Alex Woodward and Eric Garcia
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said that Montana Senator Jon Tester will lead probes into the objects that were shot down over North American airspace in recent days.
The senator led a panel last week to hear from military officials about the ballon that was spotted above his home state near sensitive military sites.
“We still have questions about why they didn’t discover these balloons sooner, these objects sooner,” Mr Schumer said on Tuesday. “Senator Tester is going to lead our caucus in investigating this.”
Mr Tester said on Sunday that the Biden administration and US military need to “have a policy” about unidentified objects in US airspace to recommend to the president to swiftly handle any future incursions.
“What’s been going on the last … 10 days has been nothing short of craziness,” he told CBS Face the Nation. “The military needs to have a plan to not only determine what’s out there, but determine the dangers that go with it.”
Mitt Romney and Lindsey Graham ‘reassured’ after briefings on objects
Tuesday 14 February 2023 22:39 , Alex Woodward
Republican Senator Mitt Romney said the recently shot-down objects above North American airspace are “not very high on my worry chart” following closed-door briefings with lawmakers on Tuesday.
“The reality is we don’t know a lot about what these items are, yet,” he said.
Sen Mitt Romney and Lindsey Graham talk to me after a classified briefing on the balloons, both saying they are reassured by what they have heard pic.twitter.com/i3sfb0uzZn
— Dan Rivers (@danriversitv) February 14, 2023
Mr Romney also told CNN that “there a lot of these things that are up in the air from time to time, some commercial, some government and maybe there’s some things we don’t know,” adding he wasn’t worried “in the slightest” over whether the objects posed any threats.
Senator Lindsey Graham also told ITV that he is not “unnerved” after he participated in classified briefings with other members of Congress.
“I didn’t hear anything in there that unnerved me,” he said.
‘Leading’ theory is objects are commercial craft or ‘benign’, White House says
Tuesday 14 February 2023 22:09 , Alex Woodward
White House National Security Council strategic communication coordinator John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday that the “leading” theory behind the three recently shot-down objects are they were used for commercial or other “benign” purposes.
“The intelligence community’s considering as a leading explanation that these could just be balloons tied to some commercial or benign purpose,” he said.
Officials have ruled out that the objects are government vessels, and intelligence suggests they are not linked to China, he said.
“We don’t know of any evidence right now that that confirms that they were in fact doing intelligence collection by another government,” he said.
Republican senators use balloon incident to attack Biden as they call on president to hold national address
Tuesday 14 February 2023 21:05 , Alex Woodward
Republican Senator Steve Daines of Montana characterised the Biden administration’s decision to wait to shoot down the surveillance balloon as a “weakness” and “indecision”, though the president initally ordered the US military to do so at first sight.
Military officials, who claimed to have blocked any intelligence-gathering capabilities and said that the balloon posed no physical threat, advised against shooting it down until it was clear of people and buildings below, and so that the materials from the balloon could be recovered and investigated.
Those decisions and likely many others were shared with lawmakers over a series of hearings, including closed-door classified briefings, but Republican senators have not shared what they learned, instead using the incident as ammunition for their attacks on the administration and its policies regarding China.
GOP leader Mitch McConnell and Mr Daines have urged the president to hold a national address to speak on the issue.
Marjorie Taylor Greene draws wild comparison between Chinese spy balloon and 9/11
Tuesday 14 February 2023 21:00 , Alex Woodward
US military officials contend that it was safer for American fighter jets to shoot down the massive balloon once it crossed into accessible waters rather than shoot it out of the sky while it was potentially a risk to people and buildings below.
But during an event in Idaho over the weekend, Marjorie Taylor Greene called the reasoning from the Pentagon “pathetic, absolutely pathetic” and “a bunch of bull****”.
She then compared the size of the balloon, which was roughly the size of three buses, to a plane – specifically, the United Airlines jetliner, one of four aircraft hijacked on 9/11. Passengers prevented hijackers from reaching their target in Washington DC by downing the craft in a field, killing all on board.
Marjorie Taylor Greene draws wild comparison between Chinese spy balloon and 9/11
Mitch McConnell: ‘The American people deserve to hear more from the president’ on balloons
Tuesday 14 February 2023 20:52 , Alex Woodward
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters on Tuesday that the president “basically” was “watching the balloon go all across America” earlier this month, making only a “passing reference” to the aircraft, which he ordered to shoot down, in State of the Union address
The GOP leader tied the balloon event to a series of foreign policy decisions under President Biden, including the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.
“The American people deserve to hear more from the president on all of these issues,” he said.
Wyoming Republican Senator John Barrasso called the balloon incident a “majority security breach,” refuting characterisations from the Pentagon and the White House that the balloon did not pose any intelligence or physical threat.
China mocks America’s balloon obsession while seemingly ignoring Ohio
Tuesday 14 February 2023 20:00 , Alex Woodward
Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying mocked America’s scrutiny into the suspected surveillance balloon, accusing the nation of ignoring the threats posed by the train derailment in Ohio that has sparked widespread contamination fears, with Hua Chunying comparing it to the disaster at Chernobyl.
“Apparently some in the US take a wandering civilian balloon as a big threat while the explosive train derailment and toxic chemical leak Not. #OhioChernobyl,” she wrote on Twitter.
Apparently some in the US take a wandering civilian balloon as a big threat while the explosive train derailment and toxic chemical leak Not. #OhioChernobyl pic.twitter.com/uBEfG3HMXN
— Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) February 14, 2023
The Independent is covering the Ohio disaster here:
Ohio train derailment puts millions at risk as toxic chemicals enter river
Senate intelligence chair tells The Independent that US needs a better reporting system for knowing what’s in the sky
Tuesday 14 February 2023 19:40 , Eric Garcia and Alex Woodward
Democratic US Senator Mark Warner, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told The Independent’s Eric Garcia that Americans will have “more information” about the objects that were shot down above North American airspace over the last several days once the debris is collected.
But the US “needs to acknolwdge” that “there is not a good reporting system in place that if you're a weather balloon or commercial balloon or some other kind of activity, you just don't have that kind of visibility,” Mr Warner told The Independent on Tuesday.
His remarks, echoing earlier statements, follow closed-door briefings with lawmakers to learn more about the objects that were shot down by the military.
Lisa Murkowski tells The Independent that administration’s lack of answers and ‘honest unknowns’ is ‘frustrating’
Tuesday 14 February 2023 19:35 , Eric Garcia and Alex Woodward
Republican US Senator Lisa Murskowski was furious with military officials during a Senate hearing last week as she grilled defense chiefs about the surveillance balloon that flew into the US from her home state of Alaska and was allowed to travel across the US.
She told The Independent’s Eric Garcia that senators are “still waiting to really understand the origin, the nature of these objects” – two of which also flew in across her state before they were shot down. One was shot down in Alaskan waters.
While the US has had some success recovering materials from the downed balloon off the South Carolina coast, “we’re still in search of the debris from the other areas.”
“I’m very anxious to know more about that,” she said.
“It’s frustrating,” she added, with “a lot of outstanding questions” after several briefings, including classified briefings with administration officials, with answers that are “frustratingly opaque” or provide little more than “honest unknowns”.
Marjorie Taylor Greene compares balloon to 9/11
Tuesday 14 February 2023 19:30 , Alex Woodward
Far-right Georgia US Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene drew a wild comparison between the Chinese surveillance balloon and United Airlines Flight 93, the hijacked plane that crashed into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania on 11 September, 2001.
Military officials contend that it was safer – with a better chance of recovering crucial components – for the US to shoot down the balloon once it crossed into accessible waters, rather than shoot it out over the sky above people and buildings.
During an event in Idaho over the weekend, Ms Greene called the reasoning from the Pentagon and military officials “pathetic, absolutely pathetic” and “a bunch of bull****”.
She compared the size of the balloon, which was roughly the size of three buses, to a plane – specifically, the United Airlines jetliner that crashed on 9/11.
“Remember that? It didn’t kill anybody on the ground. Killed everyone on board. But it didn’t kill anyone on the ground,” Ms Greene said. “So they want to tell all of us that it was too risky to take down that Chinese spy balloon over rural Idaho or Montana, or any of these other states, or Alaska? They’re liars.”
She suggested that President Joe Biden deliberately kept the balloon above US airspace because he “sold out to China.”
“You can only see it two ways,” she said, offering up three. “Either they’re liars or they’re cowards or our president is sold out to China. You know what? I’ll go with all three.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene used the death count from hijacked 9/11 Flight 93 to minimize the risk of shooting down the spy balloon.
MTG: “Do you guys remember on 9/11 when an airplane crashed in Pennsylvania? …It killed everyone on board, but it didn’t kill anyone on the ground.” pic.twitter.com/uznQZ4zmk6— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) February 13, 2023
UFOs, UAPs and ETs: Why some people believe aliens are visiting us right now
Tuesday 14 February 2023 19:20 , Alex Woodward
In 1947, scraps of rubber and metal found in Roswell, New Mexico arguably began the hunt for UFOs and alien life on our planet. That collection of debris was officially from a downed weather balloon – but that official explanation has not satisfied the many who claim that it was the remains of something not of this world.
Nearly 80 years later, a balloon has kicked off another round of fears and excitement about alien invasion.
In the decades since those events in Roswell, the world has seen a growing interest in UFOs, and where they might have come from. And sceptics have long argued that rather than being any new technology – either of this Earth or another planet entirely – many of those sightings might indeed be weather balloons.
The Independent’s Andrew Griffin writes:
UFOs, UAPs and ETs: Why some people believe aliens are visiting us right now
Search interest in UFOs and extraterrestrial life has exploded with the latest aerial objects and White House comments
Tuesday 14 February 2023 19:00 , Alex Woodward
Google search interest in “what is in the sky” is at an all-time high in the US, and Americans asking if “aliens are real” has more than tripled within the past day, after the White House rejected claims that extraterrestial life forms are responsible for a series of unidentified objects shot down by American fighter jets.
The administration’s own discussion of the topic has inflamed baseless speculation and fuelled conspiracy theories, as officials and experts contend that there is no evidence to support that the objects came from China or another planet, but could more likely to be another kind of aircraft caught up in a broadening radar scope after the Chinese surveillance balloon incident.
But search interest in the US for “extraterrestrial life” is eight times greater than that of “surveillance” over the past day. The most-asked questions are related to shooting down UFOS, how many there are, what aliens are, and what UFO means.
(Unidentified flying object, by the way.)
Senate intelligence committee chair wants ‘more aggressive’ system for tracking civilian crafts in airspace
Tuesday 14 February 2023 18:30 , Alex Woodward
Democratic Senator Mark Warner, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the US needs a better system for keeping track of objects in US airspace.
“My hope would be that we are much more aggressive about trying to make sure that objects are up there for legitimate scientific, weather or other purposes and that there is a much better notification process with authorities,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Members of Congress received closed-door briefings on the latest objects shot down by American fighter jets on Tuesday.
Watch: Mark Milley confirms F-16 missed Lake Huron object
Tuesday 14 February 2023 18:00 , Alex Woodward
Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Mark Milley confirmed on Tuesday that a missile fired by an F-16 fighter jet aimed at an object over Lake Huron in Michigan on Sunday missed the target. A second missile successfully brought it down.
He said the first missile “landed harmlessly in the water”.
Top Democrat on House Armed Services Committee claims China ‘almost certainly’ responsible for objects
Tuesday 14 February 2023 17:30 , Alex Woodward
The top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee alleged that China “almost certainly” launched the three objects shot down by American fighter jets, though the White House, Pentagon officials and intelligence analysts have not yet made any such definitive answers about their origin.
US Rep Adam Smith told USA Today that the objects are “almost certainly a case of the Chinese trying to come up with new or creative ways to spy on us.”
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said on Monday that the the US has not yet seen “any indication or anything that points specifically to the idea that these three objects were part of [China’s] spy balloon program, or that they were definitively involved in external intelligence collection efforts.”
Mr Smith said the US needs to “respond and block this avenue” but stressed that global surveillance efforts between world powers are nothing new.
“It’s not like they’re learning some deep dark secret that makes us extra vulnerable here,” he added. “We definitely want to stop them from doing it, as we want to try and stop all efforts of surveillance on the US by China or anybody else for that matter. But, no, I don’t think it’s something that the American public needs to worry a great deal about.”
US military has not yet recovered debris from downed objects
Tuesday 14 February 2023 17:01 , Alex Woodward
While crews have recovered “significant debris” from the Chinese surveillance balloons, recovery operations that began this weekend for the other three downed objects have so far yielded nothing.
“Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure,” the US military’s Northern Command said in a statement on Monday.
On Tuesday, White House National Security Council spokesperson told reporters that recovery teams are “dealing with some pretty tough conditions” on Lake Huron and in the frozen seas near Alaska.
US military recovers ‘significant’ electronics from downed Chinese ‘spy’ balloon
Everything we know about the mysterious ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes
Tuesday 14 February 2023 16:30 , Alex Woodward
For three days in a row, US military fighter jets brought down similar high-altitude objects, all within a week after a large airship, allegedly sent by China to spy on the US mainland, seized the national news agenda.
This is everything we know, so far:
Everything we know about the ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes
Full story: First F-16 missile strike at flying object over Lake Huron missed, US officials confirm
Tuesday 14 February 2023 16:00 , Alex Woodward
In separate briefings with reporters on Tuesday, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby and Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Mark Milley confirmed that it took two attempts to take down unidentified object above Lake Huron on Sunday.
First F-16 missile at flying object over Lake Huron missed, US officials confirm
John Kirby: ‘Could be some time’ before US recovers debris from shot-down objects
Tuesday 14 February 2023 15:33 , Alex Woodward
It could take “some time” before the US recovers materials from several downed objects shot down above US airspace in recent days, White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday.
Recovery operations are underway off the coast of South Carolina to recover critical materials from the Chinese surveillance balloon, and authorities also are recovering debris from two shot-down objects in Alaskan waters and in Lake Hurson. Canadian authorities also are recovering debris from an object shot down by an American fighter jet in the Yukon territory on Saturday.
“We're dealing with some pretty tough conditions,” Mr Kirby said. “Lake Huron, which is not a shallow lake and the Yukon wilderness well as sea ice north of the coast of North Alaska ... Even even off the coast of South Carolina when we have been able to take debris up off the bottom ... So we're up against it when it comes to to just the weather and the general geographic issues.”
He said investigators are doing to “keep at it” in the meantime.
“We're going to try to get the as much debris as we can because we know that that's the best way for us to do the forensics on, on these on these objects,” he added.
He stressed that the the US has not yet seen “any indication or anything that points specifically to the idea that these three objects were part of [China’s] spy balloon program, or that they were definitively involved in external intelligence collection efforts.”
Milley: F-16 missed object over Lake Huron with first shot
Tuesday 14 February 2023 15:25 , Alex Woodward
Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Mark Milley told reporters on Tuesday that the F-16 jet that brought down an object over Lake Huron on Sunday missed the first time.
The object was shot down with a second shot, he said during a briefing alongside Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Brussels.
Just in: Romania spots balloon-like craft in airspace
Tuesday 14 February 2023 14:39 , Alex Woodward
The Romanian Air Force’s surveillance system detected an airborne object that looked like a weather balloon flying in the country’s airspace, Romania’s defense ministry announced on Tuesday.
The balloon-like craft was reportedly flying at about 11,000 meters, or roughly 37,000 feet, though two MiG jets scrambled in southeast Romania 10 minutes after the sighting could not confirm the target, according to Reuters.
Trump’s secretary of state claims latest balloon incidents brought ‘global shame’ to the US
Tuesday 14 February 2023 14:32 , Alex Woodward
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is reportedly mulling entry in the 2024 presidential race, said that the Biden administration “made an enormous mistake” that caused “global shame” with its handling of the Chinese surveillance balloon.
As it traveled across the US earlier this month, it created an “an enormous geopolitical advantage” for China, he told The Hill during an interview promoting his memoir.
“I can’t imagine that the risk of some falling debris over a place like Montana exceeded the risk of global shame,” he added.
Mr Pompeo conceded that he does not know what information, if any, it collected or what intelligence it had or what imagery it captured.
Justin Trudeau suggests ‘pattern’ between objects shot down
Tuesday 14 February 2023 14:00 , Graig Graziosi
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there was a “pattern” between the objects that were shot down over North America over the last several days.
“Obviously there is some sort of pattern in there - the fact we are seeing this in a significant degree over the past week is a cause for interest and close attention,” he said.
Admiral John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, said he could not comment on the assertion, saying he was unfamiliar with Mr Trudeau’s statement.
He said the objects shot down over the last several days were unlike the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down earlier in January. Mr Kirby also said the origins of the three objects shot down over North America are still currently unknown.
John Kirby says Chinese spy balloon program was operational during Trump administration, but they ‘did not detect it’
Tuesday 14 February 2023 13:30 , Graig Graziosi
Admiral John Kirby, the Coordinator for Strategic Communications at the National Security Council, told reporters that a Chinese high altitude spy balloon program was known to defense officials during Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House, but noted that his administration failed to detect the objects.
“...But we were able to determine that China has a high-altitude balloon program for intelligence collection that’s connected to the People’s Liberation Army,” he said. “It was operating during the previous administration, but they did not detect it.”
Mr Trump denied any balloons entered US airspace during his administration in a furious post on Truth Social.
“Now they are putting out that a Balloon was put up by China during the Trump Administration, in order to take the ‘heat’ off the slow moving Biden fools,” he wrote. “China had too much respect for ‘TRUMP’ for this to have happened, and it NEVER did. JUST FAKE DISINFORMATION!”
Read more:
Biden White House says Trump’s team failed to detect Chinese army balloon programme
