Disclaimer: I don't care about either. Spy satellites, spy balloons, spy network appliances, spy phones, and plain spies are all proxies for "the enemy", that

Disclaimer: I don't care about either. Spy satellites, spy balloons, spy network appliances, spy phones, and plain spies are all proxies for "the enemy", that can be invoked at will, whenever we must be reminded that there are potential enemies and that they are "that close" to becoming an actual threat. Today it is balloons, tomorrow it will be something else. The easier it is to actually see that proxy, the easier it is to transmit the message. And balloons happen to be more visible than satellites.