Spy balloon: Hobbyists say $12 pico balloon may have been shot down by US as Biden rules out China
US president makes ‘no apologies’ for shooting down Chinese surveillance balloon
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A group of amateur balloonists has revealed that a pico balloon – which cost as little as $12 – may be among the three unidentified aerial objects shot down by the US military.
The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade told Aviation Week that one of its research balloons last signalled its position on 10 February off the coast of Alaska, putting it on track to float towards Canada’s Yukon territory the next day. It was deemed “missing in action” on 15 February.
On 11 February, the US military shot down an object over Alaska – one of three unidentified objects downed that weekend.
In a speech on Thursday, President Joe Biden said that the three objects were “most likely tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions” and that “nothing right now suggests that they were related to China’s spy balloon program”.
Mr Biden said that the US military raised its radar sensitivity levels “to pick up more slow-moving objects above our country and around the world” in the days after the Chinese spy balloon flew over North American airspace.
The president said he makes “no apologies” for shooting the spy balloon down off the coast of South Carolina.
Parameters for shooting down objects won’t be made public, Biden says
The Biden administration will not make public any future parameters for determining whether to blow something out of US airspace, the president said on Thursday.
He said such information will be shared with members of Congress – many of whom have criticised the administration for not quickly sharing with them more information about the balloon and shot-down objects – but those rules will not be released publicly.
The president said sharing that information would provide a “roadmap to our enemies to try to evade our defenses.”
Biden calls NBC News reporter after shouted questions
After his remarks on the balloon and three other objects shot down by American fighter jets, reporters shouted a series of questions all at once.
He told one reporter “you can come to my office and ask a question when you have more polite people.”
That appears to have been NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander.
The president called his cell phone after his remarks, he said.
In his phone interview, Mr Biden said he did not think it was an overreaction to shoot down the three objects, saying that he “got a recommendation from the military.”
He also said he intends to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping but declined in the interview to say when.
“I think the last thing that Xi wants is to fundamentally rip the relationship with the United States and with me,” he said.
Watch: Biden responds to shouted questions after balloon remarks
Biden outlines four measures to monitor US airspace after balloon incident and flying objects
President Joe Biden has directed his administration to implement four measures to have a better understanding of what exactly is in the air, how to regulate their launch, and to create “global norms” for what he called “largely unregulated” airspace.
The measures include an inventory of unmanned flying objects that is “accessible and up to date,” better detection of unmanned objects in North American airspace, and updated rules and regulations for launching unmanned objects.
President Biden also said that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will lead an effort to help “establish common global norms in this largely unregulated space.”
“These steps will lead to safer and more secure skies for our air travelers, our military, our scientists and for people on the ground as well,” Mr Biden added.
Everything we know about the mysterious ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes
US military fighter jets were deployed four times within eight days to strike down a large suspected Chinese surveillance balloon and three smaller unidentified flying objects in the skies over Alaska, Lake Huron, and in the Yukon territory of Canada.
For three days in a row, US military fighter jets brought down similar high-altitude objects, all within a week after a large airship, allegedly sent by China to spy on the US mainland, seized the national news agenda as it drifted across the country before it was destroyed off the coast of South Carolina.
Here’s everything we know about them, and why we suddenly started seeing them:
Everything we know about the ‘objects’ shot down by US warplanes
Three high-altitude objects were destroyed days after a fighter jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon
Biden: ‘We’re not looking for a new Cold War'
President Joe Biden underscored recent statements from the State Department and other top US officials stressing that the balloon incident has not fractured the nation’s relationship with China, and that the administration is guided by a principle of “competition, not conflict” with Beijing.
“We’re not looking for a new Cold War,” the president said in his remarks on Thursday.
Mr Biden said he anticipates speaking with President Xi at some point.
His remarks on the nation’s diplomatic strategy also come as a group of top US diplomats, including Vice President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, head to the Munich Security Conference, which Chinese officials are also expected to attend.
Hobby group worried that F-22’s Sidewinder missile destroyed research balloon
An Illinois-based hobbyist group is worried that their globe-trotting research balloon one of the three unidentified aerial objects shot down by US fighter jets using Sidewinder missiles in US and Canadian airspace.
Hobby group worried that F-22’s Sidewinder missile destroyed research balloon
‘They’re going to look not too intelligent to be shooting them down,’ Silicon Valley balloon company founder says
‘Sky trash’ or ‘research’ balloons? Why unidentified objects wound up on the US military’s expanding radars
They could be “sky trash”, “benign” weather balloons, “balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research,” or any number of other objects.
But the objects that were shot down above North American airspace in recent days are likely not from China or used for surveillance by any other country, according to officials and analysts.
Why did they wind up on the US military’s radar?
We explain:
Did China launch the other objects shot down by American fighter jets?
The White House says there’s no evidence they came from China’s sprawling surveillance programme. Recent changes to radar and a military on high alert could offer some clarity
Top US and China officials could meet face to face in Munich
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is reportedly considering a meeting with Chinese diplomat Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference starting this week, marking what would be the first face-to-face talks between the nations after the US shot down a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon on 4 February.
If they don’t meet there, Mr Blinken also could meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang at the G-20 Foreign Ministers meeting in India next month, where both officials are scheduled to attend.
Vice President Harris also is attending the Munich conference, potentially setting up another chance for in-person encounters between American and Chinese officials after the balloon incident.
US officials including Ms Harris have insisted that the incident has not changed the nation’s relationship with China, though Chinese authorities have repeatedly accused the US of violating international accords and have threatened “countermeasures” after alleging American surveillance balloons were deployed in their own airspace. The White House has denied the allegation.
Biden administration briefs Trump-era officials on balloon sightings
Biden administration officials on Wednesday briefed Trump-era national security officials and members of the former president’s cabinet on Chinese surveillance balloons that were recently uncovered having traveled over North American airspace during the last administration.
The briefings included former national security adviser Robert O’Brien, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and former National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe, according to NBC News.
Former national security adviser John Bolton also said yesterday that he would be attending the briefing.
“It is something that [China has] been working on for many years, and that they have tried to improve … in terms of capability, range [and] communication,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters in a phone briefing on 6 February.
According to the White House and military officials, at least three similar balloons were above the US at some points during the Trump administration, which began in January 2017 and ended in January 2021,
Those previous flights were “brief” and “nothing like we saw” with the balloon that cruised across North America earlier this month, Mr Kirby said.
Here’s what we know so far about those balloons:
What we know about Chinese spy balloons that flew over US during Trump administration
Chinese spy balloon trump presidency
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