Chinese spy balloon got intelligence from sensitive U.S. military sites, despite U.S. efforts

So it seems China was able to gather intelligence from our military sites after all. Why does it seem with this administration we get initial complete stories there is no danger and denials, and they later roll back when the heat is off?

They let it fly repeatedly over our most sensitive sites. All the while saying if they shot it down it would have a large debris field, which is BS, once the balloon was deflated. The payload beneath it would have just dropped just as it did over the ocean.

www.nbcnews.com...

Chinese spy balloon gathered intelligence from sensitive U.S. military sites, despite U.S. efforts to block it

The Chinese spy balloon that flew across the U.S. was able to gather intelligence from several sensitive American military sites, despite the Biden administration’s efforts to block it from doing so, according to two current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration official.

China was able to control the balloon so it could make multiple passes over some of the sites (at times flying figure eight formations) and transmit the information it collected back to Beijing in real time, the three officials said. The intelligence China collected was mostly from electronic signals, which can be picked up from weapons systems or include communications from base personnel, rather than images, the officials said.

The balloon first entered U.S. airspace over Alaska on Jan. 28, according to the Biden administration, which said it was tracking it as it moved. Within the next four days, the balloon was flying over Montana — specifically Malmstrom Air Force Base, where the U.S. stores some of its nuclear assets.

a reply to: putnam6

As much as I’ll never defend any administration, take info like this with a grain of salt. Intelligence could be anything from someone talking on a phone, to actual communications between missile silos. This could Be nothing more than politicians trying to score political points. Not saying they didn’t get anything, but when former officials are involved, it gets more suspect.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: putnam6

As much as I’ll never defend any administration, take info like this with a grain of salt. Intelligence could be anything from someone talking on a phone, to actual communications between missile silos. This could Be nothing more than politicians trying to score political points. Not saying they didn’t get anything, but when former officials are involved, it gets more suspect.

That, and we may have fed the Chinese misinformation, since we knew they were there. The electronic signals they picked up may have been fed to them to mislead them. The news from ‘current’ officials may have been to bolster the believe that the info they picked up was real.
Or, given the current administration, they may have collected real info. What did Obama say about Biden? Don’t underestimate his ability to screw things up?

Respectfully, so you are suggesting the stories now are bogus? my point is that the administration was doing damage control by not suggesting but saying they were blocking any attempts at gathering data. One could easily infer if the Chinese were doing figure 8's with the balloon over Malmstrom AFB they were likely receiving some intel of value.

Makes me wonder what other official stories will be rolled back...


www.dailymail.co.uk...

China was reportedly able to control the balloon as it passed over the same site in figures of eights.

This allowed it to transmit information in real time, the officials warned.

READ MORE: How $200m F-22 Raptor shot down Chinese spy balloon with $400k Sidewinder missile – and possibly paid homage to WW1 ace the 'Arizona Balloon Buster' with their callsigns

Information collected from electronic signals can be picked up from weapons systems or communications between personnel on the base.

The balloon, which Beijing previously denied was a government spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada early in February before being shot down off the Atlantic Coast on President Joe Biden's orders.

It entered US airspace on 28 January and was tracked as it flew over Malmstrom Air Force base in Montana, where nuclear assets are stored.

a reply to: putnam6

We got traitors in our government, we got a compromised president by China communist party, we got a woke General that is more concern about the gender sensitivities and hormone treatment of military trans people and have not time to have concerns about our nation's security.

We have an FBI and DOJ that is too busy going after Americans parents for protesting the mutilation of children and the sexualization of our schools, they have no time to provide security for the nation.

We got a government that is no of the America people.

What anybody expects.

China communist money is very good, very good.

edit on 3-4-2023 by marg6043 because: (no reason given)

Either or, it should have been wiped immediately from American skies.

Instead, choosing to let this farce continue unabated until it hit the ocean.

a reply to: marg6043

Agreed.

They do things in a manner that gives to china while proclaiming ignorance.

It's so blatant.

originally posted by: Arnie123
Either or, it should have been wiped immediately from American skies.

Instead, choosing to let this farce continue unabated until it hit the ocean.

They had plenty of opportunity to shoot it down, from the time it flew over the Aleutians, and over sparsely populated Alaska and Canada but they choose not to say anything till it was spotted by the amateur astronomer. That's when they knew it wasn't gathering any sensitive data.

It is clear to me that the Biden administration allowed and knew about this, from their refusal to stop it early on.

Maybe Hunter even sold a few more paintings as a result.

a reply to: putnam6

No, I’m saying that Intel can be anything. They could have gotten absolutely useless data, and that can be called Intel by someone trying to score political points. I’m saying that we don’t know what they got, or if/how it hurts us. The only reason this much was leaked was because someone saw a way to score points.

As for them walking it back, so did Trump, Obama, Clinton, Bush….. Par for the course.

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: putnam6

No, I’m saying that Intel can be anything. They could have gotten absolutely useless data, and that can be called Intel by someone trying to score political points. I’m saying that we don’t know what they got, or if/how it hurts us. The only reason this much was leaked was because someone saw a way to score points.

As for them walking it back, so did Trump, Obama, Clinton, Bush….. Par for the course.

This is correct. There is technically such a thing as "useless" intelligence, usually boasted for, as you said, political points.
At some point, it was probably discussed that whatever intelligence the balloon was gathering (radar imaging, signal eavesdropping, etc) did not warrant immediately shooting down the balloon.
Let me rephrase. Someone decided that whatever China had to gain from the balloon was (likely) not worth shooting it down over, and whatever the US would gain by shooting it down was not worth it.
If it did do any harm (which is still a possibility), we (the public) probably won't be told the whole set of details, anyway.

This entire balloon fiasco was so heavily politicized, it's not advisable to take any media reports at face value.

It is amazing what Money can buy.
Some one Took a bribe to let in um! take some photos.
ever notice the Chinse take photos of every thing?

originally posted by: wavelength

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: putnam6

No, I’m saying that Intel can be anything. They could have gotten absolutely useless data, and that can be called Intel by someone trying to score political points. I’m saying that we don’t know what they got, or if/how it hurts us. The only reason this much was leaked was because someone saw a way to score points.

As for them walking it back, so did Trump, Obama, Clinton, Bush….. Par for the course.

This is correct. There is technically such a thing as "useless" intelligence, usually boasted for, as you said, political points.
At some point, it was probably discussed that whatever intelligence the balloon was gathering (radar imaging, signal eavesdropping, etc) did not warrant immediately shooting down the balloon.
Let me rephrase. Someone decided that whatever China had to gain from the balloon was (likely) not worth shooting it down over, and whatever the US would gain by shooting it down was not worth it.
If it did do any harm (which is still a possibility), we (the public) probably won't be told the whole set of details, anyway.
...

I think you're half-correct.

The balloon was tracked by the US Intelligence Community from its launch on Hainan Island all the way to the US border in Alaska. However, there wasn't consensus on whether its ground track was deliberate or an accident. But by the time it crossed into the lower 48 and started cutting figure 8s near the ICBM fields there could be no doubt it was an intelligence collecting mission and therefore a deliberate hostile act on the part of China. That's when the decision was made to not let them get away with it for free.

At that point, you're right; there was no need to shoot it down immediately because its intelligence collecting risk could be minimized by turning off sensitive EM signals whenever it was nearby.

However, it was always very desirable to retrieve the payload package onboard in as good a condition as possible to reverse engineer it. Dropping it in shallow, ice-free water is a whole lot better than doing that over frozen, snow covered land. And it worked. Right now, the payload is sitting in a secure warehouse in Quantico VA, being picked apart by the FBI, CIA, NSA, etc.

And you're also right that if it did uncover a weakness in our ability to deal with it, that information would certainly be classified and not released publicly in any detail, since that wold only help China. Likewise, we would not release any details about what we learn by reverse engineering the payload.

Just to add to the topic...here's the canned response recently delivered to US media about exactly this thing...

US officials downplay significance of intel captured by Chinese spy craft over American soil

"We were heroic!" ... "We immediately shot it down!" ...

Uhhh, ... yeah.

a reply to: putnam6

This is a nonsense story.

The only way anyone will know for sure that China got anything, is if China themselves admit that they did and then they produce the evidence. That is never going to happen.

Some people are gullible.

originally posted by: 1947boomer
However, it was always very desirable to retrieve the payload package onboard in as good a condition as possible to reverse engineer it. Dropping it in shallow, ice-free water is a whole lot better than doing that over frozen, snow covered land. And it worked. Right now, the payload is sitting in a secure warehouse in Quantico VA, being picked apart by the FBI, CIA, NSA, etc.

You're right, they definitely wanted the payload. "Clearing" the balloon's path (shutting down signals, etc) and letting it fly by is a lot wiser than destroying its payload which may prove to have some intelligence value. Yet another reason the US had more to gain by not immediately shooting the balloon down.


...That all said, when they opened it up at the lab, confetti and silly-string probably popped out of it along with a note that said, "GOTCHA!" (kidding, kidding, just interjecting a moment of levity )

Did President Biden INTENTIONALLY let the Chinese Spy balloon/platform send information to China for 1 week, before shooting it down?

It appears so: nypost.com...

Wait so Biden lied?

AGAIN?

Gee what a total shocker.

I love how this guy is everything the Left thought they hated about Trump. They wholeheartedly support what they thought they hated because the guy has a D in front of his name.

Allowing the balloon to loiter for a while was also a great opportunity to provide a whole gob of counter-intelligence / misinformation and disinformation back to the Chinese. It's not like they didn't have time to get setup to do this. Plus, Biden aside, I've got to believe someone was collecting intelligence on exactly what the balloon's payload was doing, just as much as the balloon was attempting to collect intelligence on us. After all, they did send a U-2 up to take a peek at it, and I'm pretty sure they were taking more than pictures.

But hey, maybe I'm giving too much credit.

Strange... I remember reading something someone here said about that balloon that was almost exactly what this report says. Let me think... hmmm... it's almost on the tip of my fingers... let's see...

Oh! That's right! It was me!

And I didn't base this on any news reports or official statements. I try not to do that. I based in on state-of-the-art technology, restrictions on that technology, and the actions of the US military. Recall that the responses to a foreign surveillance balloon over US soil went from "No problem; we have this all under control" to "OMG! It might be another one! Shoot it down NOW!"

And that change happened when? Immediately after the balloon was recovered.

Here's some truth for those who can handle it: China was looking for electronic signals to help indicate the position and technical vulnerabilities of our nuclear silos. They found it. All our attempts at jamming were just inconveniences for China; new technology can circumvent traditional jamming. Our nuclear capability has been compromised by an incompetent, bungling administration headed by a puppet with dementia (but at least he doesn't tweet). MAD will soon be a memory.

The USA is as vulnerable to foreign powers as anyone else. We no longer hold a safe space in the world. I guess that's the "equality" we keep hearing about.

So sleep well tonight. You'll never hear the bullet that takes us out, so no need to worry about it.

Watch Romania. Stay out of Minnesota.

TheRedneck