https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64507225
The US is tracking a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon that has been spotted flying over sensitive sites in recent days. Defence officials said they were confident the "high-altitude surveillance balloon" belonged to China. It was most recently seen above the western state of Montana.
The military decided against shooting it down in case debris falls.
China warned against speculation and "hype" until the facts are verified.
- BBC News, 3rd Feb 2023.
Then:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64515033
An alleged spy balloon spotted over the US is a Chinese "civilian airship" which had deviated from its planned route, China says.
US defence officials said they believed the balloon, seen above sensitive areas in recent days, was in fact a "high-altitude surveillance" device.
But in a statement, China's foreign ministry said it was used for "mainly meteorological" purposes.
China "regrets the unintended entry" of the balloon into US airspace, it added.
- BBC News, 4th Feb 2023
From what I can gather, this "mainly meteorological" balloon, which the Chinese Government has officially claimed is for weather tracking purposes (although that's patently absurd), just happened to drift over the top of nuclear missile silos in Montana. What a coincidence?
The fact that China would use a balloon invites the obvious question of "why?". Why use a balloon if they already have satellites which can photograph every single square inch of the planet? The United States' own U2 spy aircraft were more or less made instantly obsolete once they got their own spy satellites.
The answer is likely one of delivery. For whatever reason, China wants to send a message to the United States that they could deliver nefarious devices onto American soil quite easily. The fact that this balloon has been detected, is by my reasoning, because the Chinese Government wanted it to be detected. Why go to the hoo-haa of sending a very visible balloon over United States airspace if this wasn't the case?
As for the question of whether or not this would interfere with air traffic, again the answer is "no". Most commercial airliners operate between about 35,000-45,000 feet; whereas weather balloons are way way up at 80,000-120,000 feet. The air is so thin up there that aircraft generally can not fly because their engines can't breathe but balloons which have no engines, can happily drift around up there with no problems at all.
This story has gotten decidedly weirder though:
A second Chinese spy balloon has been spotted over Latin America, a day after a similar craft was seen in US skies, prompting the scrapping of a rare trip to Beijing by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
- ABC News, 4th Feb 2023
To lose one balloon may be regarded as a misfortune, to lose two looks like carelessness.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/02/03/chinese-spy-balloon/
Another balloon was seen over Latin America on Friday, the Pentagon confirmed, the third suspected Chinese surveillance balloon in recent days.
- Washington Post, 4th Feb 2023
What does losing three spy balloons look like? Incompetence? Aggression?
What exactly is going on here?
I suspect that China doesn't want a physical war with the United States in the same way that the United States doesn't want one with them. Not only is the United States too powerful to take for China but China is also too powerful for the United States to take on. On top of this, China needs the United States as a ready market for their goods. The United States is effectively one giant cash cow. Probably in the same way, the Chinese economy is as dependent on the United States as the United States is on them.
I note that neither Xinhua nor Pravda have made any mention whatsoever about these Chinese balloons over American airspace; which is weird considering that if this was some kind of propaganda weapon. they've made no domestic capital of this at all.
I do not think that this is preparation for the testing of some electromagnetic pulse device for the simple reason that such a device would require the transport of a lot of power up in the air; far too much to be hauled up by balloons this small.
Also, right-wing nut job media telling Yosemite Sam in West Kickastick, Montana to shoot at the balloon to bring it down, is monumentally stupid. At 77,000 feet in the air, and 5280 feet in a mile, those balloons are more than 14 miles up. You can't shoot something 14 miles away with small arms fire and especially not 14 miles due up.
I think that the Pentagon and by extension President Joe Biden has made the best decision to simply do nothing and let these balloons go by. They will likely burst and crash into the Atlantic Ocean; which is miles and miles and miles of sea in every direction and certainly the safest option.
Wo sind die anderen zechsundneunzig?
Stecken In einem kasten neuneckig?
Wie Hielten sich für Captain Kirk
Es gab ein großes Feuerwerk
Dabei schoss man am Horizont.
Bei Neunundneunzig Chinesische Luftballons!
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