Baron
Platinum Member
No one knows what's inside of the Chinese balloon, biological weapons, nukes or something else.
The moronic Joe can do nothing, the balloon is laughing and continues to do what's please.
How Biden can fight Putin when he can't stop a balloon about his head?
China acknowledged Friday that a high-altitude balloon spotted this week over Montana does in fact belong to Beijing, but it referred to the airship as a civilian device "used for scientific research such as meteorology." A senior defense official told CBS News on Thursday that the Defense Department was "confident" that it was, in fact, a Chinese surveillance balloon.
The payload of the balloon, that is, the part under the balloon conducting the surveillance, is the size of two to three school buses, and the balloon itself is much larger, according to a U.S. official.
According to a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry, the airship was "affected by the westerly wind" and its ability to control its direction "is limited." The statement also says that the balloon "seriously deviated from the scheduled route" and expressed regret that "the airship strayed into the United States due to force majeure."
By Friday morning, the balloon was no longer over Montana but had moved over the Midwest and is now over "the middle of the country," according to a U.S. official. A Chinese balloon has never been over the middle of the country before. The only other time a Chinese balloon has flown over the continental U.S. was during a brief overflight of Florida. There have been overflights of Hawaii and Guam. In previous instances, the Chinese have been able to recover the balloon. Although it can maneuver, it will still travel in the direction it is carried by the jet stream.
There has been some discussion of trying to somehow capture the balloon, but this official says that this is not possible.
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder declined to describe the specific dimensions of the balloon, "other than to say that it is big enough that, again, in reviewing our approach, we do recognize that any potential debris field would be significant and potentially cause civilian injuries or deaths or significant property damage."
The U.S. views the Chinese explanation of the balloon's purpose with "a fair amount of skepticism," and it is still trying to figure out what China's intent was.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been expected to travel to China this weekend for a diplomatic trip, but as the Biden administration weighs a broader response to the discovery of the balloon, his trip was postponed, two diplomatic sources told CBS News. However, the U.S. does not believe it was timed to scuttle Blinken's trip.
The balloon is not going to run out of fuel, since it has solar panels. The official also said that the balloon steers by rudder and is corkscrewing around to slow its progress over land, but the jet stream continues to move it on a trajectory across the U.S. The Pentagon is still considering ways to "dispose" of it but has "grave concerns" about the damage it would cause if it fell to Earth.
Although it's difficult to find a precise definition of how high sovereign air space extends, government lawyers regard this as a violation of U.S. air space.
The U.S. engaged with Chinese officials "urgently," and President Biden was briefed on the situation, a senior defense official said. On Friday morning, a senior U.S. official said that Washington had communicated directly with Beijing about the situation at multiple levels. A Chinese official was summoned to the State Department for a formal U.S. complaint.
Answering a question in Beijing on Friday during a regular briefing, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said the country "regrets that the airship strayed into the United States," which they attributed to a "westerly wind" and the device's limited "control ability."
www.cbsnews.com
The moronic Joe can do nothing, the balloon is laughing and continues to do what's please.
How Biden can fight Putin when he can't stop a balloon about his head?
China acknowledged Friday that a high-altitude balloon spotted this week over Montana does in fact belong to Beijing, but it referred to the airship as a civilian device "used for scientific research such as meteorology." A senior defense official told CBS News on Thursday that the Defense Department was "confident" that it was, in fact, a Chinese surveillance balloon.
The payload of the balloon, that is, the part under the balloon conducting the surveillance, is the size of two to three school buses, and the balloon itself is much larger, according to a U.S. official.
According to a statement by the Chinese foreign ministry, the airship was "affected by the westerly wind" and its ability to control its direction "is limited." The statement also says that the balloon "seriously deviated from the scheduled route" and expressed regret that "the airship strayed into the United States due to force majeure."
By Friday morning, the balloon was no longer over Montana but had moved over the Midwest and is now over "the middle of the country," according to a U.S. official. A Chinese balloon has never been over the middle of the country before. The only other time a Chinese balloon has flown over the continental U.S. was during a brief overflight of Florida. There have been overflights of Hawaii and Guam. In previous instances, the Chinese have been able to recover the balloon. Although it can maneuver, it will still travel in the direction it is carried by the jet stream.
There has been some discussion of trying to somehow capture the balloon, but this official says that this is not possible.
Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder declined to describe the specific dimensions of the balloon, "other than to say that it is big enough that, again, in reviewing our approach, we do recognize that any potential debris field would be significant and potentially cause civilian injuries or deaths or significant property damage."
The U.S. views the Chinese explanation of the balloon's purpose with "a fair amount of skepticism," and it is still trying to figure out what China's intent was.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken had been expected to travel to China this weekend for a diplomatic trip, but as the Biden administration weighs a broader response to the discovery of the balloon, his trip was postponed, two diplomatic sources told CBS News. However, the U.S. does not believe it was timed to scuttle Blinken's trip.
The balloon is not going to run out of fuel, since it has solar panels. The official also said that the balloon steers by rudder and is corkscrewing around to slow its progress over land, but the jet stream continues to move it on a trajectory across the U.S. The Pentagon is still considering ways to "dispose" of it but has "grave concerns" about the damage it would cause if it fell to Earth.
Although it's difficult to find a precise definition of how high sovereign air space extends, government lawyers regard this as a violation of U.S. air space.
The U.S. engaged with Chinese officials "urgently," and President Biden was briefed on the situation, a senior defense official said. On Friday morning, a senior U.S. official said that Washington had communicated directly with Beijing about the situation at multiple levels. A Chinese official was summoned to the State Department for a formal U.S. complaint.
Answering a question in Beijing on Friday during a regular briefing, a spokesperson for China's foreign ministry said the country "regrets that the airship strayed into the United States," which they attributed to a "westerly wind" and the device's limited "control ability."
Biden says U.S. will "take care of" suspected Chinese spy balloon
U.S. military leaders recommended against shooting it down as it crossed over the middle of the country due to danger from debris, a senior defense official said.
www.cbsnews.com
