First declared on February 2nd, the US Government as well as American citizens have been taking notice of a massive Chinese weather balloon over Montana. With MT the home of one of the three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base, this is an incredibly serious situation. Based on projected trajectory factors, this isn’t the first secure space it will fly over either.
Naturally, officials from Montana are deeply concerned. With Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Gen Mark Miley, the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff refusing to do anything to take down the balloon because of it possibly going down “over a civilian population,” Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) had to speak up.
“The fact that this balloon was occupying Montana airspace creates significant concern that Malmstrom Air Force Base and the United States’ intercontinental ballistic missile fields are the target of this intelligence gathering mission. … It is vital to establish the flight path of this balloon, any compromised U.S. national security assets, and all telecom or IT infrastructure on the ground within the U.S. that this spy balloon was utilizing.”
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte was briefed on it on February 1st and was outraged when he heard about the MT National Guard being notified of an ongoing operation. In a statement, he stated, “From the spy balloon to the Chinese Communist Party spying on Americans through TikTok to CCP-linked companies buying American farmland, I’m deeply troubled by the constant stream of alarming developments for our national security.”
Despite all the outrage, the White House and its officials like Sec Def Austin and Gen. Miley downplaying this event like this as if this is just another February are insulting. A nameless WH spokesman clarified “We are confident that this high-altitude surveillance balloon belongs to the [People’s Republic of China]. Instances of this activity have been observed over the past several years, including prior to this administration.” Despite their certainty, many Americans have advocated for shooting it down, and the WH is refusing to hear this.
“So the first question is, does it pose a threat, a physical kinetic threat, to individuals in the United States in the US homeland? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a threat to civilian aviation? Our assessment is it does not. Does it pose a significantly enhanced threat on the intelligence side? Our best assessment right now is that it does not. So given that profile, we assess the risk of downing it, even if the probability is low in a sparsely populated area of the debris falling and hurting someone or damaging property, that it wasn’t worth it.”
With Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting Beijing at an undisclosed time in February, it’s not a shocker they have refused to shoot it down.
A statement from a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson shed some light on the lies that have convinced the US to leave it alone in a statement issued February 3rd. “It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course. The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure. The Chinese side will continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this unexpected situation caused by force majeure.”
The lack of spine shown by this administration leaves a lot to be desired for every American. Despite the WH spokesperson saying this kind of activity has happened in other administrations, it doesn’t mean it needed to be allowed to continue. Sending Americans, a message that admits it was wrong before, and it’s wrong now, but still refusing to do the right thing is a dangerous one to be putting out there. It also has left many asking for Florida Man to show up and resolve the problem.
The Air Force finally shot it down on Saturday, yet the data recovered from the balloon has yet to be released — and we may never know the real truth about it all.
Consequently, this is a developing story, and information is unfolding fast. At the time of publishing the information contained is accurate per publicly released information.
