The Balloon Crisis: Why Would China Use This To Spy on America?

On Friday morning, China’s Foreign Ministry announced that the large balloon that was reported to be slowly floating over Montana on Thursday was Actually, it’s a civil airship It was used mainly to conduct meteorological research.

19FortyFive Senior Editor Peter Suciu on Fox News discussing China’s balloon over America. 

“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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of Chinese said via a statement. “The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure.”

According to the ministry, Chinese officials will communicate with the United States in order to properly address the matter.

Is China lying about this? Is this a spy balloon or something? 

China and a Case Of Spy Craft Goes Wrong 

On Thursday, there was speculation that the slow-moving balloon (which is said to be the same size of three city buses) may have been. deployed to perform reconnaissance on the United States.

The Pentagon had been following its movements since Wednesday at the earliest and noted that it was travelling at an altitude much higher than commercial air traffic.

Officials from the United States also stated that there was no military threat or physical threat to those on the ground.

“The United States Government has detected and is tracking a high altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,” Brig. General Pat Ryder made the following statement. “The U.S. government, to include NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely. 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. Instances of this kind of balloon activity have been observed previously over the past several years. Once the balloon was detected, the U.S. government acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.”

The possibility that it was used to gather intelligence about sensitive sites was raised. However, the U.S. military and other government agencies were working to stop any foreign intelligence collection.

Why would China use a balloon to gather intelligence? 

Even as China – much like the United States – has satellites that can monitor nearly any part of the world, a slow-moving balloon still offers a number of advantages.

Experts note that balloons can be smaller, more affordable, and much easier to launch. And unlike a satellite launch won’t generally receive a lot of attention.

Furthermore, large-sized balloons can still have low signatures and low-to zero emission. This makes them a reliable platform for surveillance.

Also, unlike space-based systems, these can be far less predictable and thus harder to track – and unlike High-flying aircraft like the SR-71 BlackbirdA balloon can remain in a given area for extended periods of time by being positioned as a satellite or a balloon.

It also isn’t just what a balloon can “see” It can also be used for good “hear,” The miniaturization and monitoring of radio and cellular traffic could be possible with a balloon.

Military Balloons

Though China has claimed the balloon isn’t military, the use of such lighter-than-air craft in military applications dates back to the late 18th century. 1794 the French Committee of Public Safety created the Corps d’ AerostiersDuring the French Revolutionary Wars, balloons were occasionally used for reconnaissance, with action at the battles of Fleurus and Charleroi.  

The American Civil War was a time when the Union Army used a number of balloons for a similar purpose.. The largest – the Intrepid and the Union – each had a capacity of 32,000 cubic feet of lifting gas, which was supplied by special hydrogen-generating inflation wagons.

Both World Wars saw the use of balloons continue, and reports emerged that the United States military was using them again last year. Russia and China are now creating balloons for spying.

Most famously, it was during Cold War that a high altitude balloon was created for nuclear test surveillance. The crash occurred near Roswell, New Mexico. “UFO craze” This continues to this day.

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Experience as an Author and Expertise Peter Suciu is a senior editor at 19FortyFive and a Michigan-based author. He is also a member of the Michigan-based writer group, 19FortyFive. Contributed Over a twenty year career in journalism, he has contributed to over four dozen newspapers and magazines. He frequently writes about military hardware and firearms history, as well as cybersecurity, politics, international affairs, and other topics. Peter is also an author. Contributing writer Forbes Clearance Jobs. You can follow him Twitter: @PeterSuciu.

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