The Chinese spy balloon that made its way across the US earlier this year was more than just a reconnaissance mission. The balloon, which was discovered floating over Montana in late January, was able to capture images and collect signals intelligence from several US military sites, including Malmstrom Air Force Base.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the balloon was capable of transmitting information back to Beijing in real-time, raising concerns about whether the Chinese government had wiped its data as it received it. This has left questions about whether there is intelligence that the balloon gathered which the US still doesn't know about.
However, intelligence officials say they are not overly concerned because the information collected by the balloon was not significantly more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites can gather over similar locations. The balloon's flight over the US did not appear to have provided critical new insights to China, according to one US intelligence official.
But despite this assessment, the incident has further escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing. The balloon first crossed into US airspace over Alaska before passing through Canada and down into Montana, where it hovered for a few days. It was eventually shot down by the US off the East Coast on February 4.
The Chinese government has maintained that the balloon was just a weather balloon that got lost, but officials believe China did have some ability to maneuver the balloon once it reached its intended location over Montana. And once it loitered over sensitive sites in the area, China appeared to take advantage of its position to try and collect intelligence.
The US has also developed a method of tracking these Chinese balloons operating across the globe, which are allegedly controlled by the Chinese military. The FBI is still examining the balloon's wreckage, but officials have so far been able to glean some additional information about how it worked, including its software algorithms and power sources.
Despite this, China does not know for sure what information the US government has gathered from the incident, raising questions about whether there are any new insights that could impact future diplomatic efforts between the two countries.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the balloon was capable of transmitting information back to Beijing in real-time, raising concerns about whether the Chinese government had wiped its data as it received it. This has left questions about whether there is intelligence that the balloon gathered which the US still doesn't know about.
However, intelligence officials say they are not overly concerned because the information collected by the balloon was not significantly more sophisticated than what Chinese satellites can gather over similar locations. The balloon's flight over the US did not appear to have provided critical new insights to China, according to one US intelligence official.
But despite this assessment, the incident has further escalated tensions between Washington and Beijing. The balloon first crossed into US airspace over Alaska before passing through Canada and down into Montana, where it hovered for a few days. It was eventually shot down by the US off the East Coast on February 4.
The Chinese government has maintained that the balloon was just a weather balloon that got lost, but officials believe China did have some ability to maneuver the balloon once it reached its intended location over Montana. And once it loitered over sensitive sites in the area, China appeared to take advantage of its position to try and collect intelligence.
The US has also developed a method of tracking these Chinese balloons operating across the globe, which are allegedly controlled by the Chinese military. The FBI is still examining the balloon's wreckage, but officials have so far been able to glean some additional information about how it worked, including its software algorithms and power sources.
Despite this, China does not know for sure what information the US government has gathered from the incident, raising questions about whether there are any new insights that could impact future diplomatic efforts between the two countries.
... i mean, can you imagine if they were able to hack into our military sites for real? 
anyway, it's clear that tension between the US and china is at an all-time high right now. but, on the bright side, we're getting pretty cool tech to track these chinese balloons down 
... still, i'm just worried what kinda info china might've gotten from our military sites... 
. There's always more to the story, and it sounds like the US is still trying to figure out what exactly did go down 
. My point is, even with info being shared in real-time, our perception of what matters can be skewed by how we interpret it 
. It's all about context, baby! 
It just seems like such an overkill, you know? And now that we've got a method of tracking these things, it's just gonna be a cat-and-mouse game between the US and China 
.
I mean, I'm not saying it's a conspiracy or anything, but it does seem suspicious that China is so tight-lipped about the whole thing.
. But hey, at least it's making for some juicy headlines, right? 
The fact that the US isn't totally freaked out about this just shows how used we are to being spied on by China and other countries, but I think it's a big deal nonetheless. And what's with the whole "they didn't get anything new" thing? That sounds like a cop-out to me. I mean, even if they did, that still raises questions about how much they do know about our military sites and operations.
. And now the US has this new method of tracking these Chinese balloons? Game. Changer 
. We need to be strategic and take a stand... or at least try to 
OMG, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this whole thing 
. And the fact that China is still denying it was even a spy balloon, but we know for sure it was 
, is just wild.
. I mean, can't we all just get along? 
. It's like they're finally getting ahead of the game 
. I'm literally glued to my screen watching them uncover all these clues and piece together what went down 
. Can we get a live stream of this? 
Like, we've seen those before. But seriously, if they were just messing around with some ordinary weather balloon, how did they manage to get it to hover over Malmstrom Air Force Base for days? That's not something you can just do with a regular balloon, that's some fancy tech right there 
. It's like, can't we just have a peaceful trade deal or something? 