Until a few months ago, the United States knew nothing about the existence of balloons used for reconnaissance. This was announced on February 12 by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
“The bottom line, firstly, is that a few months ago we did not know anything about these balls, our military and intelligence did not know. Now they learn much more,” he told the TV channel. ABC.
According to him, now the military and intelligence are focused on collecting and accumulating information, and then preparing a full-fledged analysis of what “has happened before, what is happening now and what can be expected in the future.”
On February 11, Canadian and US forces shot down an aerial target over the Yukon Territory in the northwest of the country. The soldiers removed the wreckage of the device for further study. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he ordered the shooting down of an unidentified object. Also, a decree on the liquidation of the facility came from US President Joe Biden.
A day earlier, the US military also spotted a balloon in the airspace over Alaska, after which they shot down the aircraft. The object was tracked for 24 hours and shot down on the US border with Canada – over the northeastern part of Alaska.
These events were preceded by the fact that on the night of February 3, a huge balloon was seen in the sky over the United States. The Pentagon then stated that it was a Chinese, presumably intelligence apparatus, but it did not pose a danger to the population, and all necessary measures to prevent the leakage of valuable information were promptly taken.
On February 4, the Associated Press reported that a PRC balloon had been shot down by the American military. The material noted that the balloon was shot down off the east coast of the United States on the orders of Biden. Later, the Pentagon said it examined the equipment on the balloon, establishing that it was used for intelligence gathering.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in turn, denied this assertion. The agency said in a statement that the purpose of the balloon is “civilian in nature.” The probe, in particular, was used for meteorological research. A serious introduction was made to Washington in connection with the incident. The ministry said the incident damaged relations between the two countries.
