Pentagon Recommending Against Shooting Down Chinese Spy Balloon

Pentagon leaders have advised President Biden not to order the U.S. military to shoot down an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon that’s flying over the continental United States — but that position could change as the situations evolves, according to a senior Defense Department official.

The DOD has “very high confidence” that the recently spotted platform is a spy balloon from the People’s Republic of China, the official told reporters during a call on Thursday on condition of anonymity.

On Thursday, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said: “The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.”

He said: “Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”

First reported was the existence of the balloon by NBC News.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin convened a meeting of military brass — including the head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command — on Wednesday to get their assessment, according to a senior Defense official.

“In this instance, President Biden was briefed and asked for military options. Secretary Austin convened senior DOD leadership yesterday even as he was on the road in the Philippines. There was a strong recommendation by the Chairman of Joint Chiefs Gen. [Mark] Milley and the commander of Northcom Gen. [Glen] VanHerck not to take kinetic action due to the risk to the safety and security of people on the ground from the possible debris field,” According to the official, reporters were informed.

The balloon’s dimensions were not revealed by the official.

“I’m not going to go into the exact dimensions [of it]. We did assess that it was large enough to cause damage from the debris field if we downed it over an area. We had been looking at whether there was an option yesterday over some sparsely populated areas in Montana, but we just couldn’t buy down the risk enough to feel comfortable recommending shooting it down,” They agreed.

Multiple U.S. military personnel have been monitoring the platform and will continue to monitor it. According to an official, F-22 fighter jets were also mobilized in the past as the situation changed.

“The intent of this balloon is for surveillance, and so the current flight path does carry it over a number of sensitive sites,” The official stated.

China has other intelligence collection assets like satellites that can also spy on the U.S.

“Currently we assess that this balloon has limited added value from an intelligence collection perspective. But we are taking steps nevertheless to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information. We’re also tracking what abilities they could have in gaining insight and continue to monitor the balloon as it is over the continental United States,” The official stated.

U.S. government officials have been in touch with Chinese officials regarding the incident.

“We have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland. So if the risk profile that I described earlier, if that changes, we will have options to deal with this balloon,” The senior Defense official stated this.

DefenseScoop asked the official whether there was a policy to engage these types of systems.

“As it relates to do we have a policy — the answer is yes, we do. And most importantly, we also have sufficient authority given to us to take action under Title 10 against unmanned aerial systems, of which this balloon would be a part. So, we think we have all the authorities we need to do anything that we need to do to protect the American people, and we’ll continue to do that,” The official stated.

It is not the first time a Chinese balloon of such type has flown above the United States. It has happened. “a handful of other times over the past few years,” According to the official, this includes before the Biden administration assumed office.

However, “it is appearing to hang out for a longer period of time this time around, more persistent than in previous instances. That would be one distinguishing factor,” The official stated.

Officials have confirmed that 163 reports of anomalous phenomena were classified as balloon-like entities after a review of U.S. military sightings.

“I’m not going to go into the exact nature of the technology, [but] I don’t think that the payload on this [Chinese balloon] is — I wouldn’t characterize it as revolutionary,” DefenseScoop was informed by a senior Defense official. “I think the thing that is different is the altitude, and of course, the willingness to put it over the continental United States for an extended period of time. I think that’s the biggest difference here.”

A spokesperson from China Foreign Ministry stated Friday that the balloon belonged to China. However, she claimed that it was being used elsewhere. “research” “meteorological purposes.”

“The airship is from China. 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 spokesperson said in a statement posted on the Ministry of Foreign Affair’s website.

Updated February 3, 2023: The story has been updated with a statement by a spokesperson from the Chinese Foreign Ministry about the balloon.