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Chinese Spy Balloon Is Taken Down

- President Biden orders spy balloon shot down

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A Chinese spy balloon hovering over the US for multiple days has been annihilated.

Top News Today :
Late last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken unexpectedly postponed his highly anticipated diplomatic visit to China, prompting concerns that some major event had to have happened to cancel a meeting of this magnitude that was months in the making. Those concerns were confirmed when the American public learned that a Chinese spy balloon had been sailing across the US — and was reportedly stopping to hover over sensitive military bases and secret nuclear sites.

Chinese Spy Balloon

According to CNN, the US military confirmed that the balloon was the size of 3 school buses, was powered by a set of solar panels, and was remotely maneuverable.

The Chinese spy balloon became national news last week after residents in the northwest region of the US began calling authorities to warn that a dubious object was seen floating in the sky.

“I had seen some news reports of some airspace restrictions here in Billings, and so I thought that was a little suspicious,” Chase Doak told Reuters after hearing of something going on above his home in Montana.

Chinese Spy Balloon
Chase Doak

“And I was looking out the window like I normally do, and I just happened to spot it out of the corner of my eye and at first, I thought it was a star, but I thought that was kind of crazy because it was broad daylight and when I looked at it, it was just too big to be a star.”

Mr. Doak went out to his driveway and immediately took photos of what he saw in the sky.

“Not gonna lie. First, I thought this was a #ufo. Then, I thought it was @elonmusk in a Wizard of Oz cosplay scenario. But it was just a run-of-the-mill Chinese spy balloon!” he said on Twitter.

As news of the balloon broke, Donald Trump predictably inserted himself into the matter by chastising President Biden for not immediately ordering that it be shot down out of the sky. However, the president was well ahead of him in his planning.

On Wednesday, President Biden ordered the US military to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon — but, to only do so once they could assure the debris would not be harmful to American citizens on the ground. He also wanted the operational mechanics of the balloon collected for analysis.

By Saturday morning, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin devised a plan to shoot the balloon down once it was safely over the Atlantic Ocean.  

US airspace along the eastern seaboard was closed as military jets scrambled and locked onto the balloon mechanics via radar. Then, with a precision blow, the balloon was destroyed and its contents fell somewhere into the Atlantic. Soon thereafter, military officials retrieved the remains at the request of the president and they were taken to Quantico for analysis by the FBI.

Chinese Spy Balloon

“They decided — without doing damage to anyone on the ground — they decided that the best time to do that was when it got over water within our 12-mile limit,” Mr. Biden said while en route to Camp David. “They successfully took it down and I want to compliment our aviators who did it.”

Secretary Austin and military officials had been hopeful China did not have the capabilities to wipe the data it was stealing from the US if the balloon were ever struck down. Now, he is glad the balloon debris appears to have provided a plethora of valuable information about what exactly the Chinese were wanting to spy on and why.

“The surveillance balloon’s overflight of US territory was of intelligence value to us,” a senior defense official said during a briefing on Saturday. “We were able to study and scrutinize the balloon and its equipment, which has been valuable.”


OK WASSUP! discusses the Top News Today:
Chinese spy balloon is shot down over the US.

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DJ

DJ is the creator and editor of OK WASSUP! He is also a Guest Writer/Blogger, Professional and Motivational Speaker, Producer, Music Consultant, and Media Contributor. New York, New York USA

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Wil

The Hill: Leon Panetta, a former defense secretary in the Obama administration, questioned the Biden administration’s response to the suspected Chinese spy balloon that drifted across the U.S. before being shot down off the Carolina coast on Saturday. During an appearance on “CNN Newsroom,” Panetta told host Jim Acosta that U.S. officials should’ve taken steps sooner and been more transparent with the American public about the balloon as President Biden “allowed it to simply cross over the country.” “So the question obviously is — Pentagon said that there were risks here. I understand that argument that there were debris risks,” Panetta said. “At the same time, I think we should have acted earlier if our suspicions were valid that this was in fact on an intelligence mission.” Biden reportedly ordered the balloon to be shot down on Wednesday, but those orders were not carried out until it was above the… Read more »

Truthiz1

During an appearance on “CNN Newsroom,” Panetta told host Jim Acosta that U.S. officials should’ve taken steps sooner and been more transparent with the American public about the balloon as President Biden “allowed it to simply cross over the country.” – H/t: Wil

Panetta is absolutely On Point!

Pres. Biden needs to give an account for the total mishandling of this National Security Failure!

Last edited 1 year ago by Truthiz1
Truthiz1

Thanks for covering this DJ – this truly is national security Failure that could’ve potentially led to a national disaster of epic proportions!

Frankly, I’m both angry and alarmed at how BAD this entire crisis was handled or, should I say, mishandled!

[The Chinese spy balloon became national news last week after residents in the northwest region of the US began calling authorities to warn that a dubious object was seen floating in the sky.] -DJ

When I first heard THIS I was absolutely outdone!  

You mean to tell me – with BillionS, if not Trillion$, of dollars, the U.S. has supposedly invested in National Security technological systems to detect possible or actual weapons threats – it took ORDINARY people, “residents” who happen to be outside and looked up and saw that thing..for authorities to even be alerted to the fact it was up there!?!  

Last edited 1 year ago by Truthiz1
Mr.BD

Hey Truth I came here to say the exact same thing you did. Then while I was typing I heard something interesting on CNN. They said the military jammed the signal so whatever information the balloon was sending out to China was blocked. Then they said it was in the interest of intelligence to watch the balloon some and see what path it was taking, where it was stopping, and a few other things before shooting it down. I was mad about it too but maybe they knew what they were doing all along. It is something I never thought of.

Truthiz1

Oh I actually have no issue with them waiting awhile before shooting it down. I do recognize that they needed to be as sure as possible as to what was inside that thing before shooting it down and having a real Catastrophe on our hands!

However, I think they waited a bit too long.

And here’s my primary issue BD – from what I’ve heard, they jammed the signal AFTER they were alerted by residents that the darn thing was up there!

If I’m wrong please let me know because I want to be correctly informed.

Mr.BD

I think you are right Truth. But I had to admit today I do not know the whole story on why they waited. CNN was saying they had a valid reason so who knows. We will never know the truth because they will not tell us so I have to say they probably know better than me.

Truthiz1

And Trump and the Repubs can just STHU! Turns out 3…THREE of those balloons entered our airspace during HIS presidency! ‘Chinese balloons flew over US three times during Trump administration: officials’ Balloons similar to the one that was shot down off the coast of South Carolina this weekend flew over the U.S. at least three times during the Trump administration, according to a senior U.S. defense official.    As Republicans spent the past few days criticizing the Biden administration over its response to the suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew across the country, an official revealed during a briefing on Saturday that the U.S. was aware of three other instances during the prior administration and one instance earlier in the Biden administration that such an apparatus “transited” the country.   “PRC [People’s Republic of China] government surveillance balloons transited the continental United States briefly at least three times during the prior… Read more »

Last edited 1 year ago by Truthiz1
Mr.BD

Right again about Trump. We both been around long enough to know they are some of the biggest hypocrites alive. I saw the video of Marco Rubio and almost spit out my drink laughing. He is so stupid he had no idea how crazy he looked with his double standard. Trump the same way.

Truthiz1

Marco Rubio Deflated After Learning Trump Let a Chinese Spy Balloon Fly Over the U.S. 3 Times (Video)

https://www.thewrap.com/marco-rubio-trump-let-chinese-balloon-fly-video/

Last edited 1 year ago by Truthiz1
Mr.BD

I came here to say how mad I was they let the balloon float over the country without doing anything about it. But after watching CNN my mind is changed. They said it was some value in watching how the balloon traveled so they know more next time. They also jammed the signal so whatever data it was collecting could not get sent out. Basically they made it useless but was able to watch how it moved and stopped. I guess I learned again today I do not know everything lol.

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