Shocking inside account of Chinese spy balloon fiasco and what the government didn't tell you
Shocking inside account of Chinese spy balloon fiasco and what the government didn't tell you
Share:
The shocking truth about a Chinese spy balloon that entered US airspace last year has finally been revealed. Panic swept the nation when officials spotted a massive, white balloon float over the Canadian border in February 2023. While the Chinese government insisted it was a civilian meteorological device that had blown off course, it floated near Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, home to some of America's intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
![[Glen VanHerck, a U.S. air force general who commanded NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command)]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/17/19/94121147-14287775-Glen_VanHerck_a_U_S_air_force_general_who_commanded_NORAD_North_-a-13_1737140698749.jpg)
The mysterious trajectory led to officials ordering it be shot down, sending an Air Force F-22 Raptor over the Atlantic Ocean to get the job done. Glen VanHerck, retired Air Force general who led the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) told the National Post that officials only contacted him when the balloon was nearly over Alaska - two weeks before it crossed into the Lower 48.
![[The balloon was eventually shot down by an American F-22 aircraft]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/17/19/94121163-14287775-The_balloon_was_eventually_shot_down_by_an_American_F_22_aircraf-a-14_1737140698817.jpg)
He immediately scrambled two Raptor stealth fighters and two armed F-16s to deal with the balloon, but due to it not posing a physical threat the jets had to stand down until President Joe Biden gave the greenlight. Now, more than a year later, VanHerck said he should have been warned about the spy balloon in advance. Reports have since suggested that U.S. intelligence may have been aware of the balloon from the moment it launched from Hainan Island in China.
![[U.S. pilots rapidly captured images of the balloon as it hovered over U.S. airspace]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/17/19/94121349-14287775-U_S_pilots_rapidly_captured_images_of_the_balloon_as_it_hovered_-a-17_1737140699222.jpg)
'It's a failure of multiple intelligence, Department of Defense agencies. I should not get surprised by something that's coming into my area of responsibility … Anybody who knows about it should pass that on. It shouldn't be less than 24 hours notice.'.
![[The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast in Surfside Beach, South Carolina]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/17/19/94121327-14287775-The_suspected_Chinese_spy_balloon_drifts_to_the_ocean_after_bein-a-16_1737140699134.jpg)
.jpeg?width=1200&auto=webp&trim=0%2C300%2C0%2C300)
.jpeg?auto=webp&width=800)
