A Chinese surveillance balloon is collecting intelligence over the continental United States “right now,” U.S. officials disclosed Thursday, acknowledging that the Pentagon has been monitoring the craft for several days and briefly considered shooting it down before concluding that doing so posed a safety risk.
Democracy Dies in Darkness
Chinese spy balloon flying over U.S. ‘right now,’ Pentagon says
The discovery, coming just days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to visit Beijing, prompted discussion of whether to shoot down the surveillance system
By Dan Lamothe
and Updated February 3, 2023 at 9:34 a.m. EST|Published February 2, 2023 at 5:34 p.m. EST