Chinese “Spy Balloon” Floating Over the U.S.
A second balloon was spotted Friday evening over Latin America.
A massive Chinese balloon said to be the size of 2 or 3 school busses entered American airspace sometime earlier this week, and was first spotted Wednesday over Montana. It is floating east-southeast across the middle of the United States and was last seen near St. Louis, Missouri Friday evening at approximately 5 p.m. Central Standard Time.
China claims it is a weather balloon, but today United States Air Force Brigadier General Patrick S. Ryder said the balloon is a surveillance balloon and violating international law by entering sovereign American airspace.
Additionally, it has not yet been shot down because it “does not pose a physical or military risk to people on the ground.” If it was shot down, he said it would pose a significant threat in terms of debris and “potentially cause civilian injuries or deaths, and significant property damage.”
He was not able to answer most questions due to the classified nature of their answers. He was reluctant to provide any further details of what exactly is flying over the middle of the United States, and now appears to be heading towards North Carolina or Virginia.
When asked if Washington D.C. could be its target, Gen. Ryder declined to discuss “hypotheticals” or “speculate” on possible future scenarios.
The balloon is maneuverable and has stopped at several sensitive places including a Montana Air Force base and missile silos.
Many Republicans have seized on this issue as proof that President Biden has been compromised by China, and if a Republican was president it would have been shot down by now.
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