US Intelligence Uncertain on China Spy Balloon's Capabilities Amid US Government Lack of Clarity.
A source familiar with the matter says that a Chinese spy balloon that transited the United States earlier this year was able to capture imagery and collect signals intelligence from US military sites, but its ability to transmit information back to Beijing is not fully understood by the US government.
The balloon, which first entered US airspace over Alaska in late January before passing through Canada and down into Montana, where it hovered for several days, was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations, a senior State Department official confirmed.
Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of US Northern Command and NORAD, had stated that the US did not assess the balloon to be a significant collection hazard beyond what already exists in actionable technical means from China.
The surveillance program, which includes several similar balloons, is part-run out of the small Chinese province of Hainan, officials told CNN.
It has been confirmed that roughly half a dozen flights have been within US airspace in recent years. The US government still does not know for sure whether the Chinese government could wipe the data from the balloon's memory as it received it. That raises questions about whether there is intelligence the balloon gathered that the US still doesn't know about.
Despite this uncertainty, sources familiar with the matter have stated that the intelligence community has been less concerned about information from the spy balloon due to its similarities with what Chinese satellites can gather in similar locations.
The FBI is currently examining the balloon, and officials are able to glean more details on how it worked, including algorithms used for software and power systems.
A source familiar with the matter says that a Chinese spy balloon that transited the United States earlier this year was able to capture imagery and collect signals intelligence from US military sites, but its ability to transmit information back to Beijing is not fully understood by the US government.
The balloon, which first entered US airspace over Alaska in late January before passing through Canada and down into Montana, where it hovered for several days, was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations, a senior State Department official confirmed.
Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of US Northern Command and NORAD, had stated that the US did not assess the balloon to be a significant collection hazard beyond what already exists in actionable technical means from China.
The surveillance program, which includes several similar balloons, is part-run out of the small Chinese province of Hainan, officials told CNN.
It has been confirmed that roughly half a dozen flights have been within US airspace in recent years. The US government still does not know for sure whether the Chinese government could wipe the data from the balloon's memory as it received it. That raises questions about whether there is intelligence the balloon gathered that the US still doesn't know about.
Despite this uncertainty, sources familiar with the matter have stated that the intelligence community has been less concerned about information from the spy balloon due to its similarities with what Chinese satellites can gather in similar locations.
The FBI is currently examining the balloon, and officials are able to glean more details on how it worked, including algorithms used for software and power systems.
i mean like half a dozen flights in the past few years is kinda suspicious but also not entirely surprising considering how advanced china's tech has gotten lately 
but what really throws me off is that we still don't know if they can wipe the data from the balloon's memory 
does that mean there's intel on china that we're missing out on? 
like wut if china had a bunch of these floating around us collecting our secrets 
and we dont even no about it ?? i mean, cant they just wipe the data from the memory or smthn lol but noooo the us government is all "we dont know" 
and its like "wait wut?? how did this even happen????" 
idk what to believe anymore lol
. Like, the US government didn't think it was a big deal 'cause they already know how Chinese satellites operate in that area 
. But what if we can't fully see our own backyard? 
That's when you gotta question everything 
. Same with this spy balloon thing - the US government needs to keep looking 
until they get it right 
. And I'm not saying China's being bad or anything 
, just that we need to stay vigilant and not take things for granted 
.
. Like, what if there's intel in that thing that we'll never know about? It's like, what's the point of even having a spy program if you're just gonna leave it all up to chance 
. Do they have some fancy AI system that's like, collecting all the data and sending it back to Beijing? 
.
. And it's all coming from Hainan, which is like, a tiny island or whatever. I mean, I guess when you're the bad guy, you don't exactly have to worry about space or something 
.
.
I mean, we already knew China had these balloons flying around, but to think they can capture signals intelligence from our military sites is crazy 
And now they're saying maybe some of that info is still out there just waiting for us to figure it out