The craft was shot down by the US military off the Atlantic coast on the president’s orders earlier this year
The Chinese spy balloon shot down by a US fighter jet over the Atlantic in February did not collect intelligence as it flew across the United States, the Pentagon said Thursday.
“It’s been our assessment now that it did not collect intelligence while it was transiting the United States or overflying the United States,” said Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder.
Continue reading...US secretary of state’s trip seeks to clear the air but issues such as Taiwan and Ukraine leave limited room for compromise
Antony Blinken has arrived in Beijing on the highest-level trip by a US official since 2018, with his aides signalling he was seeking to build lines of communication rather than secure any practical breakthrough agreements.
The expectations, set deliberately low for the two-day talks, allow room for the world’s two largest economies to air their differences over the Taiwan strait, technology, human rights and the war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Documents allegedly leaked by Jack Teixeira show US knew of at least four balloons beyond one shot down in February
US officials were aware of up to four Chinese surveillance balloons, beyond one that flew over the continental US and was shot down in February, according to leaked top intelligence. One balloon flew over a US carrier strike group located in the Pacific Ocean, in an incident that was never reported.
The information comes from documents that were allegedly leaked by Massachusetts air national guard member Jack Teixeira that were first reported by the Washington Post.
Continue reading...Huge balloon was able to send information back to Beijing in real time as it was flown above US territory, NBC News reports
A Chinese spy balloon gathered intelligence as it flew over sensitive military sites in the US, despite efforts by the Joe Biden White House to thwart its espionage mission, new reports suggest.
China succeeded in flying the massive balloon over some military bases on multiple occasions and sent the information back to Beijing in real time, NBC News reported on Monday, citing two current senior US officials and one former high-level administrator. The balloon, which was the size of three school buses, was occasionally flown in a figure-eight formation over at least some of those sensitive sites before it was shot down in early February.
Continue reading...Picture was taken from the jet as the balloon entered US airspace earlier this month, before it was shot down over the Atlantic
The Pentagon has released a selfie photograph snapped by the pilot of a U2 spy plane that was hurtling through the skies above the Chinese spy balloon as the US military pursued and shot it down off the coast of South Carolina earlier this month.
The image clearly shows the mysterious, silvery-white sphere of the balloon with panels dangling below it and, whether intended artistically or not, a striking sight of the shadow of the US aircraft cast against the balloon.
Continue reading...‘Electronics and optics’ among wreckage of suspected surveillance craft shot down off South Carolina after recovery efforts end
The US has finished work to recover sunken remnants of the Chinese balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina and the debris reinforces that it was for spying, officials have said.
The White House national security spokesman, John Kirby, said the wreckage included “electronics and optics” but declined to say what the US had learned from it so far.
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