Everything Known About The Chinese Spy Balloon Currently Floating Over The U.S.

Forbes Innovation Consumer Tech Everything Known About The Chinese Spy Balloon Currently Floating Over The U. S. Matt Novak Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

FOIA reporter and founder of Paleofuture. com, writing news and opinion on every aspect of technology. Following Feb 2, 2023, 06:53pm EST | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin FILE – In this image provided by the U.

S. Air Force, an airman technician prepares a spacer on an . .

. [+] intercontinental ballistic missile during a Simulated Electronic Launch-Minuteman test Sept. 22, 2020, at a launch facility near Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Mont.

The U. S. says it is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted over U.

S. airspace for a couple days but the Pentagon decided not to shoot it down due to risks of harm for people on the ground. One of the places the balloon was spotted was Montana, which is home to one of the nation’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base (Tristan Day/U.

S. Air Force via AP) Associated Press News broke this evening that the Pentagon has been tracking a spy balloon believed to be from China that’s currently floating somewhere over the continental U. S.

And it’s causing quite a commotion, to say the least. First reported by NBC News , the balloon was reportedly spotted on Wednesday over Montana and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin convened a meeting of top officials, despite the fact that he was in the Philippines to announce a new defense cooperation agreement with the country. But what do we actually know about the balloon? The latest news is below.

Who launched the balloon? The Pentagon says it has “very high confidence” the balloon was launched by China and that such a thing has actually happened before, according to the Associated Press . The difference this time is that the balloon is reportedly lingering over U. S.

airspace longer than usual. “The United States Government has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now. The U.

S. government, to include NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely,” Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen.

Pat Ryder said in a statement published online . MORE FOR YOU $100M Magic: Why Bruno Mars And Other Stars Are Ditching Their Managers The West Is Failing To Penetrate The Russian Information Space: How We Got Here And What To Do About It Hublot, Takashi Murakami Unveil Unique Rainbow Gemstone Watch, NFT Where is the balloon exactly? The balloon flew from China over the Aleutian Islands, the long island chain that stretches out from southern Alaska, according to NBC News. From there, it traveled through Canada and into Montana, though U.

S. officials aren’t saying precisely where the balloon is right now, except to say that it’s at a height which won’t endanger commercial air traffic. “The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.

Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years,” the Pentagon said in a statement published online. What does the balloon look like? The Billings Gazette published a photo of the balloon it suggests was taken on Wednesday afternoon from the ground in Billings. KSVI-TV in Montana has also published a photo of what it believes was a view of the balloon taken from the ground on Wednesday .

It’s difficult to decipher what’s actually happening in the photos except to say it’s a large white balloon with the rough outline of what looks like a satellite in the foreground. What is the balloon used for? The Pentagon isn’t getting explicit about that part yet. But the balloon caused chaos for air traffic in Billings on Wednesday, according to the Billings Gazette , despite assurances from the Pentagon that it wouldn’t do so now.

Air traffic was shut down over Billings for a period of time on Wednesday and U. S. fighter jets were seen flying in the area.

Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana has one of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields, a possible target for espionage, though that’s simply speculation at this point. Any intelligence collection capabilities would likely be less than a typical spy satellite, according to the Washington Post , and China has plenty of those in orbit already. Can’t they just shoot the balloon down? The U.

S. military has opted not to shoot down the balloon, according to PBS Newshour , simply because they don’t want to run the risk of it landing on anything on the ground. “Once the balloon was detected, the U.

S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information,” the Pentagon said. Follow me on Twitter .

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