Why Are We Destroying The Foreign Surveillance Balloons?

The nation is being swept by sightings of unknown aerial phenomena. It’s a phenomenon that recalls the mid-20th century flying saucer fever. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was ongoing at the time of 1947 Roswell. America is still locked in a cold conflict with Red China.

Three unidentified flying objects, including a plane, were shot down above Alaska, Canada, and Michigan after an F-22 fighter aircraft on February 4th. Downed A Chinese spy balloon had traversed the entire continent of the United States. While Beijing claimed ownership of the first surveillance balloon that crossed into U.S. airspace earlier this month, mystery remains over who’s behind the objects blown out of the sky this weekend.

More confusing has been the U.S. government’s response to the foreign intrusion. It took Pentagon officials days after the first Chinese spy balloon was spotted by the public to finally bring it down — after it flew from Alaska to South Carolina. The equipment was not captured intact. Instead, the American and Canadian militaries fired missiles at each object to destroy them.

John Kirby, Pentagon Press Secretary told reporters at a White House Press briefing Monday, “some, not all” Some of the debris from China’s spy balloon, which was shot down over the Atlantic, has been recovered.

According According to The New York Times’s classified January report, 163 of 366 similar unexplained incidents occurring since 2021 were later identified by The New York Times as balloons. The American military is capable of popping the balloons and capturing their contents. If the military isn’t, then the Pentagon has far bigger problems than foreign surveillance, considering the United States captured objects in mid-air during the Cold War in the 1950s.

The 1956 reconnaissance mission by the U.S. Strategic Air Command over the Soviet Union was known as the “Genetrix” program. Balloons were carried across the continent by the winter jet stream. Once they left Soviet airspace, they were freed from their balloons. Specially equipped planes were able to collect the parachutes containing the gondolas suspended from them in mid-air. What is the Pentagon’s ability to do today the same?

Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck Telled Reporters believe the Chinese spy balloon, which traveled across the country, may have been equipped to carry explosives. But considering the government’s secrecy about these objects, caution is warranted, especially when claims are made with uncertainty.

Even if the balloon was carrying dynamite, would it not have been captured by popping it and inspecting remotely? American officials could not create a scaled up version of what Tokyo police does to capture illegal drones.

Given the few answers government officials have offered about Roswell, it’s unlikely the Pentagon will be entirely forthcoming about the latest wave of UFOs to haunt the skies.

Tristan Justice is The Federalist’s western correspondent and author of Social Justice Redux. This conservative newsletter focuses on culture, wellness, and health.

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