Chinese Spy Balloons

Evan Lanson '30 | February 14, 2023

At the start of February this year, a Chinese balloon, presumed to be spying equipment, was detected and tracked coming over Alaska, Canada, and eventually over the United States homeland. The US government asked China what they were doing with this balloon, still unsure what its purpose was whether it was just an accident or a spying tool. China replied that this was just a weather balloon studying space, but the US was still strongly convinced that they were spying on military bases, since there were many more over Latin America and other friendly countries. There has also been history about Chinese spy balloon technology and it is almost certain that this was one snooping around at the country’s classified military bases. On Sunday, February 4, the government approved the order to shoot it down and an F22 Raptor from Langley Air Force base was scrambled to shoot it down with a single AIM-9X Sidewinder missile. The balloon fell and landed off the coast of Surfside Beach, South Carolina. On February 10-12, three more unidentified balloons were detected over the US and Canada. One was shot down on the coast of Alaska, the next in Canada, and the other over the Great Lakes. These objects, however, have not been claimed by any country and were much smaller than the first. Growing suspicion on Capitol Hill is not looking good for the relations between the US and China.

Sources: The New York Times, CBS News