China's spy balloon got what they paid for: our US military intel

The Chinese spy balloon that did figure eights around the United States early this year was able to gather intelligence from many sensitive military sites, a recent report from NBC News states, in spite of the Biden administration claiming no harm, no foul.

The report cites two American officials and a former administration official and says the balloon was controlled by China, it was maneuvered by China, and made a number of passes over primary military sites, sometimes in a figure-eight pattern as it transmitted data back to Beijing in "real time."

The three officials say the data obtained by China was primarily electronic signals that could be collected from weapons systems or base communications, a strategic military move that would help the Chinese target America's defensive and offensive weapons.

NBC, to their credit, tried to press the National Security Council for comment [on the administration's incompetence] and were fed the same tired lines they were handed back in February by the Department of Defense, claiming the balloon had "limited additive value" to China "over and above what [China] is likely able to collect through things like satellites in low earth orbit.”

In spite of the myriad data the balloon likely collected in late January and early February, Biden officials said that China could have gathered even more intelligence if the administration hadn't taken actions to move potential targets around to disrupt intelligence gathering. A better idea would have been to shoot the damn balloon down as soon as it was discovered rather than allowing it to hang around for so long.

The State Department previously admitted the spy balloon had intelligence-gathering capabilities, because it was a freaking "spy" balloon. It flew over Montana where the nuclear missile silos at Malmstrom AFB are located. It also flew in a path that would allow it to gather intelligence at other sensitive military sites, all with impunity, because the Chinese said it was a civilian airship and Biden didn't want to screw up his foreign pension.

Finally, after it was finished doing what China paid for it to do, the spy balloon was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean on February 4 by a U.S. military F-22 Raptor using a single air-to-air AIM-9X Sidewinder missile.

General Glen VanHerck, Commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and United States Northern Command (USNORTHCOM), said that the balloon was up to 200 feet tall and weighed “in excess of a couple thousand pounds.” 

If it had an insignia stating: "Chinese Spy Balloon, Do Not Destroy," it may have stayed up there for another few weeks under this incompetent and corrupt administration.

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