According to current and former senior U.S. officials, the Chinese spy balloon was able to gather intelligence from multiple sensitive American military sites, despite efforts by the Biden administration to prevent it.
China could control the balloon to fly over these sites, sometimes making figure-eight formations, and transmit real-time information back to Beijing.
Chinese Spy Balloon EvadesThe intelligence collected was primarily from electronic signals from weapons systems or communications from base personnel. However, the administration’s efforts to obscure the balloon’s ability to pick up signals prevented China from gathering even more intelligence.
The Defense Department maintained that the balloon had limited additive value for China and could not confirm that it transmitted any information back in real-time.
After the balloon was shot down, officials revealed it was capable of collecting signals intelligence and had a self-destruct mechanism that could have been activated remotely.
It entered U.S. airspace over Alaska, moved to Montana and flew over Malmstrom Air Force Base, which stores some of the U.S.’s nuclear assets. The balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina, and the debris is being analyzed.
The U.S. government said it waited to shoot the balloon down until it was over the ocean to avoid any damage or casualties on the ground, as it was nearly as large as three school buses and would have had a large debris field that could not be controlled. China maintains that it was an unmanned civilian airship that accidentally strayed off course.
Officials have not disclosed which organization or department the balloon belonged to despite several requests for comment. Republican lawmakers criticized the administration’s handling of the issue and intend to hold it accountable.
