Downing the Chinese spy balloon Feb. 4 with a sidewinder missile fired from an F-22 fighter jet, the Pentagon collected the debris in shallow water off Myrtle Beach, S.C., determining that it was Chinese origin. China Foreign Ministry’s predictable response, insisting the two-ton, double-bus-sized object was anything but an innocent weather balloon that strayed off course. Whatever the guidance mechanisms, it was enough to travel from China, into Alaska, down to Idaho, pass over Montana’s Malmstrom Air Force Base, over the Midwest to Missouri’s Whiteman Air Force base home to the Stealth Bomber and on to the East Coast. It took 80-year-old President Joe Biden at least a week to figure out what to do, claiming he was being cautious not to shoot it down over populated areas. Pentagon officials, despute China’s denials, say the balloon was a Chinese skycraft.
One week later Feb. 11, the Pentagon shot down another suspicious ballot over the Alaska coast, unable, like in South Carolina, to confirm yet the origin of the balloon While the origin is not known yet, it’s highly likely that the smaller balloon, the size of a car, was part of the same fleet of spy balloons sent over the North and South America. China admitted Feb. 3 that another balloon detected over South America was part of its weather balloon fleet collecting atmospheric data. When the North American Aerospace Command [NORAD] shot down another balloon over Canada’s northern Yukon territories, 51-year-old Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the UFO violated Canadian airspace, posing a threat to Canadian aviation. With the fleet of balloons all found in one week, it’s more clear than ever that it was part of an organized spy balloon fleet sent from China.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acted swiftly coordinating with Biden and NORAD to give the order to shoot down the balloon. “I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace,” Trudeau said. “[NORAD] shot down the object over the Yukon and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and the U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object.” Trudeau said he talked with Biden about the necessity to send a message to any nation, especially China, which violated Canadian sovereignty. Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said he would be working with the RCMP “as Canadian authorities conduct a recovery operations to help our countries learn about the object,” knowing, with high certainty, it was Chinese in origin. Yukon Premier Ranj Rillai said he was briefed by federal ministers about the object, and reassured resident “at no time was the safety of Yukoners at risk“
Flying at around 40,000 feet the balloon could potentially interfere with Canadian air traffic, prompting the urgent decision to shoot it down. “Frankly, we were concerned with getting it out the sky,” Ryder said. “And that was our focus all day and indeed the past 24 hours. And so an further information about the object and reassured residents that “at no time was the safety of Yukoners at risk.” Canadian Defense Minister Anita Anand said Canadian CF-18s were involved in tracking the coordinates of the balloon, coordinated with NORAD’s F-22 that eventually fired the kill shot. “When we first started tracking this object it was dark and we needed to make sure that we had a visual of it and so needed to wait for daylight to emerge,” Anand said. Anand confirmed that she wanted to have infrared capability working with NORAD to coordinate with F-22s to fire the sidewinder missile.
Canada’s liberal government was under fire opposition parties to confirm the identity of the object taken town Feb. 11 over Yukon territories. Canada’s House of Commons agreed to hold hearings to allow Anand to testify everything she knows about the origin of the balloon. So far, all indications point to China but Anand wants to have confirmation after the debris has been recovered. Three balloons shot down over Alaska, Canada and South Carolina present compelling evidence that the Chinese were on a fishing expedition trying to gain intel on strategic U.S. and Canadian military sites. Pentagon officials confirmed a fourth balloon located over South America, confirming a coordinated effort by Chinese to seek intel around the North and South American hemisphere. Multiple balloon sighting over a week period indicates they were all launched roughly at the same time.
Shooting down three balloons with a week period indicates that China went on a fishing expedition into sovereign airspace of North and South America. China’s Peoples Liberation Army [PLA] shows little regard of international sovereignty but, more importantly, for the rule of law, especially as it concerns international waters and airspace. When China rejected the International Court of Arbitration at the Hague’s ruling July 12, 2016 about violating sovereignty in the South China Sea, the PLA demonstrated it was a rogue organization rejecting the rules based order. Sending spy balloons over North and South American continues China’s rogue activities when it comes to respecting territorial integrity. Recovering sensors guiding the massive balloon shot down Feb. 4 over Myrtle Beach proves that China lied about collecting only weather information with its balloon fleet.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
