Spy Balloon Neutralized

Spy Balloon Neutralized

(RightWing.org) – A Chinese spy balloon has been shot down by the US Air Force — AFTER it was allowed to fly across the entire country. The surveillance device had spent at least six days above the US and Canada before being intercepted. Now, many people, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), want to know why it was allowed to make its long, slow trip over our country.

On January 28, a huge balloon, around 100 feet wide and carrying a large underslung pod equipped with solar panels, entered US airspace near the Aleutian Islands. It then crossed Alaska and part of Canada’s Northwest Territories at a height of 55,000-60,000 feet before re-entering US airspace — and exploding into the headlines when it was sighted over Billings, Montana, on February 1. At that point, analysis of its course showed it had probably come from China.

The Biden administration claimed it was dangerous to shoot the balloon down over the US because of the risk of debris falling to the ground, and it was allowed to go on its way. On February 3, it was near Kansas City, Missouri; on February 4, it crossed the coast over South Carolina, and the government finally acted. An F-22A Raptor fighter took off, climbed to intercept the balloon and destroyed it with a single AIM-9X Sidewinder missile in what could be the highest-altitude air-to-air kill ever achieved. Debris from the balloon fell over a seven-square-mile area; US warships are now searching the impact zone in an attempt to salvage its remains.

China’s communist regime has admitted ownership of the balloon but claims it was a “civilian airship used for research” that drifted off course because it has limited ability to steer. US officials aren’t convinced; USAF Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told journalists the balloon has made course changes, and while it was over Montana, it appeared to loiter near Malmstrom Air Force Base — one of the US’s three Minuteman ICBM bases.

The fact the balloon’s debris landed over such a large area shows there was a risk of it causing damage or injuries on the ground if it was shot down over the US, but why wasn’t it destroyed as soon as it entered US airspace? At that point, it was probably impossible to tell it was Chinese — but nobody should be flying spy balloons over our country.

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