Suspected spy in the sky
WASHINGTON — What in the world was that thing?
The massive white orb that drifted across U.S. airspace triggered a diplomatic maelstrom and blew up on social media.
China insists the balloon was just an errant civilian airship used for meteorological research that went off course.
The U.S. says it was a Chinese spy balloon.
The Pentagon said the balloon, which was carrying sensors and surveillance equipment, was maneuverable and showed it could change course. It loitered over sensitive areas of Montana where nuclear warheads are siloed, leading the military to take actions to prevent it from collecting intelligence.
The U.S. shot down the balloon Saturday.
A look at what’s known — and what isn’t.
It’s a bird ...
The Pentagon and other U.S. officials said it was a Chinese spy balloon — about the size of three school buses — that moved east at an altitude of about 60,000 feet. The U.S. said it was being used for surveillance and intelligence collection, but few details have been provided.
President Joe Biden was first briefed on the balloon on Tuesday. The State Department said Blinken and Deputy Secretary Wendy Sherman spoke with China’s senior Washingtonbased official Wednesday about the matter.
Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said Thursday the balloon was not a military or physical threat. He said “once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”
How did it arrive?
China’s account that global air currents carried the balloon from its territory to the western U.S. is plausible, said Dan Jaffe, a professor of atmospheric chemistry at the University of Washington. Jaffe has studied the role those same wind patterns play in carrying air pollution for two decades.
Jaffe said weather and research balloons typically have a range of steering capability depending on their sophistication. The U.S. is mum on this issue, but insists it was maneuverable.
A history
Spy balloons aren’t new — primitive ones date back centuries. Administration officials said Friday there have been other similar incidents of Chinese spy balloons, with one saying it happened twice during the Trump administration but was never made public.