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| A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, on February 1, 2023, in this photo obtained from social media. |
China acknowledged Friday that the high-altitude balloon spotted over Montana this week actually belongs to Beijing, but noted that the blimp is a civilian device "used for meteorological and other scientific research." A senior Pentagon official told CBS News on Thursday that the Pentagon is "confident" that it is, in fact, a Chinese surveillance balloon.
According to the U.S. official, the balloon's payload, or the lower part of the balloon that conducts surveillance, is the size of two or three school buses, and the balloon itself is much larger.
chinese foreign ministry statement
According to a statement from the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the airship is "affected by prevailing winds" and its ability to control its direction is "limited." The statement also said that the balloon "deviated significantly from its planned route" and regretted that "force majeure caused the airship to stray into the United States."
By Friday morning, the balloon had moved over the Midwest, rather than over Montana, and was now over the "middle of the country," according to the report. Never before has a Chinese balloon passed over the middle of the country. The only time a Chinese balloon has flown over the U.S. mainland was when it briefly flew over Florida. It has flown over Hawaii and Guam. In previous instances, China has been able to retrieve the balloons. Although the balloon can be maneuvered, it moves in the direction of the jet stream.
There has been some discussion about capturing the balloon somehow, but this official states that it is impossible.
Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder declined to describe the specific size of the balloon. He said, "It is large enough that when we consider our approach, we recognize that any debris that could be dispersed would be significant and could cause civilian casualties and significant property damage."
The U.S. is "quite skeptical" of China's explanation of the purpose of the balloon and is in the process of trying to figure out what China's intentions were.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to make a diplomatic visit to China this weekend, but his visit has been postponed as the Biden administration considers a broader response to the balloon discovery,
The balloon is equipped with solar panels, so it will not run out of fuel. The official also said the balloon is steered by rudder and spun by corkscrews to slow its progress on land, but the jet stream keeps it moving on its trajectory across the United States. The Pentagon is still considering how to "dispose" of it, but there are "grave concerns" about the damage it could cause if it fell to Earth, he said.
A U.S. official said on Friday that the balloon was "not moving very fast."
Canada's Department of National Defense (DND) said in a statement late Thursday that the balloon was "detected" and that Canada is "taking steps to secure the airspace, including monitoring for a possible second incident," but did not elaborate on what that incident might be.
However, that the U.S. has not confirmed the possibility of the second balloon mentioned in Canada's announcement.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command is "actively" tracking the first balloon, the Canadian Defense Department said.
U.S. officials told CBS News that the balloon was flying at an altitude of about 66,000 feet. The balloon is maneuverable, but could eventually be pushed out of U.S. airspace because of the jet stream, they said.
Montana has silos capable of storing intercontinental ballistic missiles, and jet fighters were poised to scramble and shoot down the balloon.
Defense officials said such incidents have happened before, but never for so long. The U.S. has been tracking the balloon for "quite some time," which entered continental U.S. airspace a few days ago, they said.
The Pentagon's best judgment at this point, according to a senior Pentagon official, was that the balloon's surveillance capabilities are not a significant advance over what China can collect by other means, such as satellites in low Earth orbit. As a precaution, the Pentagon has taken additional mitigation measures to protect certain locations.
Other than shooting them down, U.S. officials pointed out to CBS News that there are other ways to deal with them, such as electronically jamming the signals they send back.
Ryder said the U.S. government will continue to "closely track and monitor the situation."
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted on April 24 that "China's brazen disregard for U.S. sovereignty is a destabilizing act that must be addressed, and President Biden will not remain silent."
"I am requesting a briefing of the Gang of Eight," he wrote, referring to the bipartisan group of eight congressional leaders tasked with reviewing national intelligence information.
A U.S. official told CBS News Thursday night that the administration offered G8 staffers an additional briefing this afternoon "to get this information to Congress quickly."
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said in a statement Thursday that he "received an intelligence briefing" Wednesday "regarding a situation involving a balloon suspected of Chinese espionage flying over Montana" and that he is "deeply troubled by the continuing developments that are alarming to our national security."