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Pentagon: object seen over Montana is a spy balloon from China

Posted at 5:19 PM, Feb 02, 2023
and last updated 2023-02-03 00:53:28-05

The Department of Defense says it is confident that a high-altitude balloon seen over Montana is a surveillance balloon from China, a senior defense official said Thursday.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Mark Milley and Vice Chairman Gen. Christopher Grady recommended against taking "kinetic action" because of possible danger from falling debris, the defense official said.

Pentagon spokesman Brigadier Gen. Patrick Ryder said that 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."

All flights at Billings Logan International Airport were grounded Wednesday afternoon for about two hours as defense authorities weighed what to do about the balloon.

"You did see reports yesterday of a ground stop at Billings airport, and the mobilization of a number of assets including F-22 (fighter jets)...in the event that a decision was made to bring this down while it was over Montana. So we wanted to make sure we were coordinating with civil authorities to empty out the airspace around that potential area...It was the judgment of our military commanders that we didn't drive the risk down low enough that we didn't take the shot," the senior official said, according to a transcript of a briefing with reporters in Washington, D.C.

Pentagon: object seen over Montana is a spy balloon from China
Pentagon: object seen over Montana is a spy balloon from China

Silos that house nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles operated by Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls are located across central and north-central Montana — and jet fighters were scrambled to be in a position to shoot the balloon down, according to CBS News.

While incidents like this have happened before, they've never lasted this long, according to a defense official. The U.S. has been tracking the balloon "for quite some time," as it entered U.S. continental airspace a couple of days ago, the official said.

The Pentagon's best assessment at the moment is that the balloon's surveillance capabilities are not a significant step up from what China is likely able to collect through other means like satellites in low earth orbit, according to a senior defense official. Out of an abundance of caution, the Pentagon has taken additional mitigation steps to protect certain sites.

After the balloon was detected, Ryder said, the U.S. government "acted immediately" to protect against the collection of sensitive information, though he didn't detail what measures were taken.

A senior defense official who participated in the briefing on background only said the U.S. intelligence community has "very high confidence" the balloon belongs to the People's Republic of China, and that the United States has engaged with Chinese officials "with urgency, through multiple channels" regarding the presence of the balloon.

"We have communicated to them the seriousness with which we take this issue," the official said. "We have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland."

The official said this is not the first time such a balloon has been seen above the United States, but did say this time the balloon appears to be acting differently than what has been seen in the past.

"It's happened a handful of other times over the past few years, to include before this administration," the official said. "It is appearing to hang out for a longer period of time, this time around, [and is] more persistent than in previous instances. That would be one distinguishing factor."

Viewer Video: object seen over Montana is a Chinese spy balloon

While the senior defense official would not say how large the balloon is, the official did say its size did figure into the calculation to not use kinetic force to take it out of the sky.

"We did assess that it was large enough to cause damage from the debris field if we downed it over an area," the official said. "I can't really go into the dimension — but there have been reports of pilots seeing this thing, even though it's pretty high up in the sky. So ... it's sizable."

A source familiar with the situation told CBS News that, when briefed on Wednesday, Mr. Biden had initially wanted to shoot down the balloon. But as he sought military options from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Milley and others, they advised against such action because of the risk to Americans on the ground.

Ryder said the U.S. government will continue to "track and monitor it closely."

Several people in the Billings area reported seeing the object in the sky Tuesday.

Victoria Hill, a city spokeswoman, said three flights experienced delays, including two inbound flights that were diverted and arrived in Billings late and an outbound United Airlines flight.

The city won't comment on the military's contention about the Chinese spy balloon, Hill said, referring all questions to the FAA.

A senior defense official said the balloon was large enough to potentially do damage on the ground if shot down, but the official declined to get into specifics on its exact size.


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