The White House says that China has implemented a balloon surveillance initiative in recent years “which it has used to violate the sovereignty of the United States and more than 40 countries across five continents, ” according to a statement by National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson. On Sunday, the Chinese government announced that the United States had illegally flown more than 10 balloons in its airspace over the past year. The Biden administration denies the allegation. “Any claim that the United States government operates surveillance balloons over the PRC is false,” Watson said in the statement.
“With the balloon in early February, the United States caught China in a cookie jar and decided to go public,” said Jake Williams, former National Security Bureau hacker and analyst at the Institute of Applications. that”. Network security. “It is likely that a lot of crafting is going on in the background, either as a result of the decision to publicly acknowledge the first balloon or that itself led to that decision. In general, yes, things change when the surveillance target learns that they are being monitored.”
The Biden administration has been criticized by some Republican lawmakers and others for being slow to shoot down a Chinese spy balloon and for its reluctance to reveal specifics about three other UFOs brought down in recent days. This. (US officials said shooting down the balloon over land would pose an unacceptable risk of falling debris.) However, RAND’s Tannehill said that from an investigative perspective, it’s very difficult to handle so many cases at once.
“The White House is caught between reacting quickly and determining the truth,” Tannehill said. “Until the path analysis is complete, we are still guessing who released them. Making false statements would greatly damage the reputation of the United States.” She added that Saturday’s disabled UFO also flew over Canadian airspace “bringing another NATO country into the discussion and it becomes a NATO issue, not just US or NORAD,” the command said. North American Aerospace Defense.
Of the object shot down Sunday over Lake Huron, US Department of Defense speak In a statement, “We do not assess it as a kinetic military threat to anything on the ground, but assess it as a hazard to flight safety and a threat due to its ability to its potential surveillance capabilities. Our team will now be working to restore the object in an effort to learn more.”
Oh, and if you’re still assuming this series of aerial activities has to do with aliens, the White House is here to pop your bubble: “I know there have been questions and concerns about this. this,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news conference yesterday, “but there is no, again no indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity with these recent demolition.” However, General Glen VanHerck, commander of the Air Force’s Northern Command, added at a news conference on Sunday, “I don’t rule out anything at this point.”
