US officials have confirmed that the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the East Coast in February was capable of transmitting information back to Beijing in real-time.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the balloon was able to capture imagery and collect signals intelligence from US military sites while it was floating above the country. The balloon's path was known by the US ahead of time, allowing for the protection of sensitive sites and censoring of certain communications.
The intelligence community has not been overly concerned about the information gathered by the balloon, as it is not significantly more advanced than what Chinese satellites can gather from orbit over similar locations.
Despite this, officials are still trying to determine if there is any new intelligence that was collected by the balloon which the US may not be aware of. The balloon's flight over the US did provide some insights into China's surveillance capabilities, with the US now having a better understanding of how the device worked and what it was used for.
The incident has further strained relations between the US and China, with the postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing following the balloon's presence over Montana.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the balloon was able to capture imagery and collect signals intelligence from US military sites while it was floating above the country. The balloon's path was known by the US ahead of time, allowing for the protection of sensitive sites and censoring of certain communications.
The intelligence community has not been overly concerned about the information gathered by the balloon, as it is not significantly more advanced than what Chinese satellites can gather from orbit over similar locations.
Despite this, officials are still trying to determine if there is any new intelligence that was collected by the balloon which the US may not be aware of. The balloon's flight over the US did provide some insights into China's surveillance capabilities, with the US now having a better understanding of how the device worked and what it was used for.
The incident has further strained relations between the US and China, with the postponement of a diplomatic visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing following the balloon's presence over Montana.
this is crazy! chinese spy balloons are like something out of a movie 
. i mean, how do they even get one in the skies above us without anyone noticing? 
and now we know they were sending info back to china in real time 
it's not good for the US-China relations anyway 
. but seriously, what other secrets did this balloon bring back to china? 
maybe some new tech that will level up their surveillance game 
. gotta keep an eye on these spy balloons 
this is crazy! 
I mean, can u believe that a spy balloon was just floating above our country without us even knowing? 
, or we might've been blindsided by some major secrets 
, 'cause let's be real, it's not like they're discovering the moon landing for the first time 
.
. Like, can we just get some clarity on what went down here? 
so I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing... basically it means that some Chinese spy balloon just floated above our country for weeks and was collecting all sorts of super sensitive info like military pics and signals... and we knew about it the whole time 
because they told us where it was going to be. But here's the weird part, apparently it wasn't that big of a deal... like, Chinese satellites can already do this stuff too, so I guess it's not super new info for them. But still, it's kinda creepy that we knew about it and didn't really do much 
. I mean, those Chinese satellites have been orbiting us for years, but this thing was like something out of a Bond movie - it was basically a spy satellite on steroids 
. And let's be real, the fact that we knew about its path ahead of time is just icing on the cake 
. It's not like we're going to start panicking or anything because... well, this isn't new intel, right? 
Still, I guess it's good for us to know how the other side's playing by the rules. Now if only our own spy agencies could keep up with their tech game 
.
I wonder if they have a special team just for dealing with these kinds of situations 
what if China has some top-secret thingy that we don't know about yet? 
. I mean, how did they even miss it? 
Either way, China's got some serious spy cred 
."
. The fact that it's not much more advanced than what their satellites can do is kinda reassuring, I guess? 
. And what really gets me is that they're not even hiding how much they know about their surveillance capabilities - it's all out in the open 
. I guess we can't blame them for trying to stay one step ahead, but still... how did this happen? Did our intel services miss something? 
. We need to be more vigilant and take action, you know? Can't let them get away with this 
And it's not like they had to do anything fancy, just float there and capture some pics and signals... meanwhile the US was basically waving a red flag in China's face 
. But at the same time, is it even fair to say the balloon didn't gather anything new? 
. But what's up with Blinken not being able to make that trip to Beijing now? Politics getting all tangled up 
.
so how much new intel can it really provide? 
) shouldn't be something we're worried about? We need to invest in our own spy game if we wanna stay on top of this! Also, what's with all the secrecy around it? Shouldn't they just tell us what they found out?! Transparency is key, you know? 
but still, 1000ft balloons are a bit suspicious, right?