Chinese Spy Balloon

In recent years, the situation concerning the gathering of intelligence on other nations is at a record high, especially with the reintroduction of balloons that fly high up in the atmosphere with equipment to spy on nations below. According to the article “China Balloon: Many Questions about Suspected Spy in the Sky,” Baldor and Copp go into depth on the discovery of a Chinese ‘spy balloon’ discovered flying over the United States, and how the U.S. government went about this threat to national security. Even though a ‘spy balloon’ seems like that of fake news or propaganda against other nations, the probability of one being in use is quite high, especially in the modern age. 

‘Spy balloons’ have been in use for centuries, with them having been used for data collection and, of course, spying. This specific balloon started its trek in Alaska in American airspace, then moved into Canadian airspace over the Northwest Territories, and finally crossing back into American airspace over northern Idaho. The balloon hovered at around 60,000 feet (about 18.6 km) and was moving east towards the Atlantic Ocean. According to Baldor and Copp, “The balloon, which was about the size of three school buses, was not a military or physical threat, an acknowledgement that it was not carrying weapons.” This quote shows that while the balloon is large, high up in the atmosphere, and of Chinese origin, it is not a threat to the U.S. in any other way than the intelligence it gathered. The United States military proceeded to monitor the balloon as it flew across the nation, and once it was off the coast of the Carolinas, it was shot down by a fighter jet at 58,000 feet in the air (about 17.68 km). The resulting debris field spread over about 7 miles, and tens of feet deep in the Atlantic, resulting in the recovery effort of three U.S. Navy ships. 

All in all, the article explains that nations are still seeking intelligence on other nations and are willing to use significantly older technology to bypass the systems in place today. The U.S government's quick actions to take down the balloon in a safe manner have shown that the preparation taken to prevent any form of spying, new or old, is solid.