The United States is tracking small high-altitude balloons drifting across the country, but they do not pose a threat to national security, U.S. officials and the military said Friday.
CBS News first reported that the military had been tracking the balloon as it passed through the western United States earlier in the day. NORAD, the military command responsible for air defense over the United States and Canada, later confirmed that it had discovered the object and said it was hovering between 43,000 and 45,000 feet. Its presence caused enough concern that the command sent an aircraft to investigate.
NORAD said in a statement: “The balloon was intercepted by a NORAD fighter aircraft over Utah and determined to be uncontrollable and not a threat to national security. NORAD will continue to track and monitor the balloon.” “The FAA also determined that the balloons did not pose a threat to flight safety.”
A U.S. official told CBS News the balloon was expected to be over Georgia by Friday night. Officials said the balloon appeared to be made of Mylar and had a small cube-shaped box about 2 feet long on each side hanging below it. Its origin and purpose remain unknown.
The development comes a year after tensions between the United States and China reached new heights. chinese balloons It flew over the continental United States for several days, carrying sophisticated spy equipment.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China claimed The balloon was intended to collect weather data, but strong winds caused it to “deviate significantly from its planned course”. The U.S. military ultimately shot it down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, 2023, and recovered the wreckage.
The reconnaissance balloon became a political headache for President Biden, who faced criticism from Republicans over his decision to allow it to fly over the United States for nearly a week before ordering it shot down. Biden officials said they waited until offshore to minimize the risk to civilians on the ground. But lawmakers questioned why the plane could not have been shot down while it was near the coast of Alaska before crossing the United States.
It's the Pentagon Finally came to a conclusion Although the balloon did not send any information back to China, its presence put the U.S. military on high alert for other objects in U.S. airspace.fighter jet shoot down Over the next several weeks, several unidentified objects occurred over the United States and Canada.
The military found no debris from these objects, and the search was called off due to dangerous weather conditions. Biden said the unidentified object was not believed to be connected to China's balloon program.
“The intelligence community's current assessment is that most of these three objects were balloons tied to private companies, recreational institutions, or research institutions conducting climate research or other scientific research,” the president said. Said.
China's reconnaissance balloons have become a major diplomatic point of contention between the US and China, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceling a visit to Beijing in February 2023. Mr. Blinken finally visited in June and sought to defuse rising tensions on a number of issues. Including issues such as balloons and China's military claims in the South China Sea.