Second Chinese spy balloon spotted over Latin America, says Pentagon

Authored by independent.co.uk and submitted by fooking_awesome

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A second Chinese spy balloon has been spotted, this time in the skies over Latin America, according to the Pentagon.

It is unclear exactly which country in the region the balloon is hovering over but it does not appear as if it is headed towards the United States, according to CNN.

“We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America. We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,” Pentagon press secretary Brig Gen Patrick Ryder said in a statement to the news network.

The latest development came a day after US officials admitted it was tracking the spy balloon across the country and said it is expected to remain in US airspace for the next few days.

The Pentagon has said it does not currently pose a threat and that it advised the White House to not shoot it down, despite F-22 fighter jets being scrambled over Montana when it was spotted on Wednesday.

The balloon was filmed and photographed by residents of Billings, Montana, a little over 200 miles from a nuclear missile silo field at Malmstrom Air Force Base.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has also postponed his trip to China this weekend because of the incident.

“The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure,” the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement, using a legal term used to describe events beyond one’s control.

The balloon was at an altitude of around 60,000 ft above the US and moving east on Friday, said Brig Gen Pat Ryder.

He told reporters that the balloon “has the ability to manoeuvre” and denied Chinese government claims that it was used for civilian research.

“While we won’t get into specifics in regards to the exact location, I can tell you that the balloon continues to move eastward and is currently over the centre of the continental United States,” he said.

“We currently assess that the balloon does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground at this time, and will continue to monitor and review options.”

wutface0001 on February 5th, 2023 at 19:01 UTC »

can someone explain why would China use balloons over satellite imagery for surveillance, which is safer and covers wider range?

IMHO the purpose isn't surveillance, it's to mock US defensive capabilities

Utkozavr on February 5th, 2023 at 12:09 UTC »

Is it more difficult to detect the balloons compared to other aircrafts? If so, will we see military usage of balloons a-la WWI?

archypsych on February 5th, 2023 at 07:13 UTC »

I heard, and don’t quote me, but this is something like the 165th incident of a similar nature in recent years.

I’m seeing a Lot of reactionary chatter that isn’t necessarily grounded in the factual situation here.

This one just caught the attention of the average Joe in the street.

Good we shot it down. No it isn’t bad that we didn’t do it sooner.

Does anyone have some explanation as to why this should be as momentous as the crowd is making it. The US spends almost a Trillion dollars a year on military infrastructure. I’m pretty sure we have this handled safely.