U.S. Recovers ‘Sensors And Electronics’ From China’s Balloon—Other Vessels Still A Mystery

Topline

The Pentagon said Monday it has made significant headway in recovering debris from the Chinese spy balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina earlier this month—as the White House has yet to publicly disclose the origins and purposes of the three most recent objects taken down above Alaska, Canada and Lake Huron this weekend.

Key Facts

Key Background

The Biden Administration first announced on February 2 that a Chinese spy balloon was spotted flying over Alaska on January 28 before traveling to Billings, Montana, not far from one of the U.S.’s three nuclear silo fields. The balloon made its way east to the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, before it was shot down by U.S. fighter pilots on February 4. On Friday, a second balloon was destroyed above Alaska and on Saturday, U.S. military forces shot down a third balloon above Canada, before downing a fourth “octagonal” object over Lake Huron on Sunday. The White House said that the three most recent objects were much smaller in size and flying at a lower altitude than the Chinese spy balloon and that the U.S. military did not detect any communications signals from them. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have criticized the Biden Administration for a lack of transparency on the balloon program, after learning that at least five Chinese spy balloons had been discovered during former President Donald Trump’s and Biden’s tenures. The sightings have sparked conspiracies that extraterrestrial forces were behind the objects—a notion the White House firmly debunked on Monday, attributing the sudden increase in UFO sightings to enhanced radar detection capabilities.

Contra

The Chinese government has accused the U.S. of “indiscriminate use of force” in downing the balloon above South Carolina on February 4 and on Monday said the U.S. has also deployed at least 10 spy balloons above China this year—a claim the White House has rejected. “Not true. Not doing it. Just absolutely not true,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Sunday on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Suprising Fact

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday suggested there was a connection between the four objects, telling reporters that “obviously there is some sort of pattern in there.”

Tangent

The Japanese government said Tuesday that it “strongly suspects” Chinese spy balloons have flown over Japan at least three times since 2019, most recently as 2021. The Biden Administration declassified intelligence on China’s balloon surveillance program earlier this month that revealed the Chinese government has sent balloons to spy on more than 40 countries across five continents.

Further Reading

Aliens Weren’t Behind Most Recent Flying Objects, White House Says—But Still Unclear Who Was (Forbes)

Objects Shot Down Over North America Part Of A ‘Pattern,’ Trudeau Says (Forbes)

Everything We Know About The Flying Object Shot Down Over Canada—A Day After Similar Incident Over Alaska (Forbes)

Schumer: Two Latest Objects Flying Over North America Were Also Balloons, Intelligence Officials Believe (Forbes)

U.S. Shoots Down Object Over Alaska That Posed ‘Threat,’ Pentagon Says (Forbes)

U.S. Shoots Down Suspected Chinese Spy Balloon Over Atlantic (Forbes)