Explained | The saga of Chinese ‘spy’ balloon in U.S. airspace

What are spy balloons and what are they capable of?

The story so far: Last week, the United States shot down a Chinese ‘spy’ balloon, days after the surveillance device was first spotted over American airspace, bringing the dramatic saga that played on televisions and social media to an explosive climax and dealing yet another blow to already strained diplomatic relations between the two sides.

(Video credit:Twitter/@elitedevon)

Reports of a massive white orb, believed to be the size of three school buses, tracked floating high above the U.S. State of Montana captured global attention earlier this month as theories emerged about its origin and people attempted to track the craft’s real-time position.

Ending speculations, American defence and military officials confirmed that the reconnaissance balloon had travelled from China, entered the air defence zone north of the Aleutian Islands on January 28, subsequently moved over land across Alaska and into Canadian airspace and crossed back into the U.S. over Idaho.

President Joe Biden was briefed on the matter and the military considered shooting down the balloon which Pentagon believed was a Chinese surveillance tool carrying sensors and equipment to collect information about military and other strategic sites like Montana, which is home to one of the nation’s three nuclear missile silo fields. Officials discovered that the balloon was manoeuvrable and could change course. “We saw it do that. It loitered over certain sites. It went left, right. We saw it manoeuvre inside the jet stream. That’s how it was operating,” an official said. They added that the balloon had propellers and rudders.

Though Pentagon acknowledged that the balloon was unarmed, it decided against aerial action at the time due to risks for those on the ground owing to its massive size and altitude. As a precautionary measure, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration paused aerial activity at three airports.

As the news of the ‘spy’ balloon traversing American skies caused a sensation, the Chinese Foreign Ministry acknowledged that the balloon was from China after initial reluctance, but rejected claims of spying. It insisted that the balloon was an errant civilian airship used mainly for meteorological research that went off course due to winds. “The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure. The Chinese side will continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this unexpected situation caused by force majeure,” the statement said. Beijing also expressed “regret” over the incident while it insisted that it respects the sovereignty of other countries.