yah! #ChineseSpyBalloon part stupider.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqxdwjn578do

The sudden and unexpected closure of the airspace over El Paso, Texas, appears to have stemmed from the US federal government conducting drone-related tests.

The 10-day closure, which ultimately ended hours after it was announced late Tuesday, caused a mass panic in the US-Mexico border city, with the mayor telling the BBC that the chaos "was completely unnecessary".

The US Department of Defense said the airspace issue was due to the military disabling drones being used by Mexican cartels.

But CBS News, the BBC's news partner, said the closure followed a test earlier this week, where an energy laser was used to shoot down what appeared to be a foreign drone, but was actually a party balloon.

Hoo boy 😬
Who could it be? “U.S. intelligence officials have determined that the #Chinesespyballoon that flew across the U.S. earlier this year used an #Americaninternetserviceprovider to communicate, according to two current and one former U.S. official familiar with the assessment.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/us-intelligence-officials-determined-chinese-spy-balloon-used-us-inter-rcna131150

The secret U.S. effort to track, hide and surveil the Chinese spy balloon

Nearly a year later, Biden administration officials say the threat was exaggerated, but U.S. military officials contend that too little has been done to detect high-altitude #spyballoons.

#Chinesespyballoon #balloon
🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna130991

The secret U.S. effort to track, hide and surveil the Chinese spy balloon

A year later, Biden administration officials say the threat was exaggerated, but U.S. military officials contend that too little has been done to spot spy balloons before they pose a threat.

(via NBC News)

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/secret-us-effort-track-hide-surveil-chinese-spy-balloon-rcna130991

#ChineseSpyBalloon #Biden #Balloon #pentagon

"China appears to have suspended its surveillance balloon program following a major diplomatic incident earlier this year, when one of the country’s high-altitude spy balloons transited the United States, multiple sources familiar with US intelligence assessments told CNN."

"The FBI concluded its analysis of the balloon’s remnants earlier this year, and the Pentagon announced in June that the US government assessed that the balloon did not collect intelligence while flying over the country."

Honestly imo the second quote, (read the article for more), that is a lot of behind covering going on. On both China and the US side. They also still refuse to release information about the 2 other shoot downs.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/15/politics/china-spy-balloon-program-us-intelligence

#spyballoon #chinesespyballoon #chineseballoon #ufos #balloon #surveillance