Washington DC –
The United States (US) and China gave different information about this spy balloon. The US says there is valuable intelligence to be gleaned from the spy balloons, but China says the balloons are for weather observation only.
Reported AFPTuesday (7/2/2023), it is believed that China’s secret intelligence will be revealed by the shooting down of a spy balloon who spent days in the air over US territory, including over top secret military locations. The White House said valuable intelligence information was in the process of being retrieved from the device.
Meanwhile, Beijing authorities claim the giant blimp is an aerial vehicle for weather observation. China says the balloon has no military purpose.
However, Washington describes it as a sophisticated spy device and can fly very high. The spy balloon was shot down by a US fighter jet over the east coast of the Atlantic last Saturday (4/2).
Now, the US Navy and Coast Guard are in the process of searching for and collecting the debris from the spy balloon for intelligence analysis. National Safety Council spokesman at the White House, John Kirby, said US personnel “have recovered some debris from the surface of the sea” although weather conditions did not allow for further underwater search of debris.
“They will, in the coming days, be able to get down there and get a better look at what’s on the ocean floor, but it has only just begun,” Kirby said in a statement.
Kirby said it had taken steps to ensure the spy balloon’s instruments “mitigate” its ability to spy during flight. Kirby said it was also “raising and enhancing our ability to gather intelligence and information from it”.
“We are still analyzing the information we can collect from the balloon before we shoot it in the sky and now we will recover it and I think we will learn a lot more,” he said.
Kirby also revealed that spy balloon China doesn’t just fly away. He said the balloon had propellers and rudders as a means of control, even though the balloon was swept up by very strong winds at a very high altitude.
“It’s true that this balloon has the ability to maneuver itself — to accelerate, decelerate and turn. So it has propellers, has rudders, if you will, to allow it to change direction,” Kirby said.
The spy balloon had slowly crossed the central US territory with reports calling it past top-secret military sites, before finally moving towards the US east coast where it was shot down. Chief of US Northern Command Gen. Glen VanHerck said a Navy ship was in the process of mapping the debris zone of the spy balloon which is expected to cover about 1,500 meters by 1,500 meters in Atlantic waters.
The spy balloon itself, VanHerck said, was 60 meters high and carried a thousand-pound payload that was roughly the size of an ordinary fighter jet. According to Kirby, the US has no intention of sending the blimp back to China.
“I know there is no intention or plan to return it,” he said.
VanHerck said the debris from the Chinese spy balloon would be studied closely by the US.
“I don’t know where the wreckage will be taken for final analysis, but I will tell you that the intelligence community along with the law enforcement community working under counterintelligence will be taking a good look at it,” VanHerck said in a statement.
See China’s explanation on the next page.
(haf/haf)
