3 ms·
The large balloon was definitely from China, China never denied that. The dispute was over its intention, which China maintains was meteorological research. Fo
by jcrawfordor 3y ago
The large balloon was definitely from China, China never denied that. The dispute was over its intention, which China maintains was meteorological research.
For example, here is a BBC article that takes a skeptical tone but correctly summarizes the statements made by the Chinese government. Under a more charitable interpretation, one could assume that the Chinese government remained silent for some time because they had to determine which research agency had launched it.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-64633990 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-64633990
- ShakataGaNai 3y agoYou're right, incorrect implication on my part. Fixed.
- squarefoot 3y ago> The dispute was over its intention, which China maintains was meteorological research. I seem to recall the US military were able to recover it after shooting it down. If that's the case, analysis of the remains should dispel any doubt about its purpose: sensors used in meteorological research are quite different from those used say for monitoring radio waves or taking photos of terrain.
- jcrawfordor 3y agoYes, and there has been pretty extensive reporting that based on analysis of the wreckage the balloon was determined to be an ELINT (electronic intelligence) collection platform with a real-time C2 connection using a commercial US ISP (I assume a cellular carrier). I think that's pretty much what anyone with some general knowledge of modern military intelligence would have guessed, it's just the obvious thing to use such a balloon for. However, to my knowledge, this is all based on "sources within the intelligence community" and has not been formally acknowledged by any government official. So take it with a grain of salt, even on top of what you might usually apply to determinations by US intelligence.