Posted on 02/10/2023 9:52:50 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The alleged Chinese spy balloon that U.S. fighter jets shot down Saturday was likely capable of listening in on Americans’ communications and pinpointing the location of those conversing on the ground, according to the U.S. State Department.
As the massive white balloon traversed the continental U.S. last week, drifting over several sensitive military sites along the way, it carried equipment that was designed to intercept sensitive communications, said a State Department official, who provided a statement on the condition anonymity to discuss the information.
“It had multiple antennas to include an array likely capable of collecting and geolocating communications,” the official said. “It was equipped with solar panels large enough to produce the requisite power to operate multiple active intelligence collection sensors.”
China conducted high-altitude surveillance missions in “more than 40 countries across five continents,” the Biden Administration alleged Thursday in a new disclosure that shed light on the size and scope of suspected espionage effort that was carried out over several years. “We know these balloons are all part of a (People’s Republic of China) fleet of balloons developed to conduct surveillance operations,” the State Department official said.
Although the Chinese government maintains the aircraft was merely a wayward weather balloon, the U.S. official said the balloon’s equipment “was clearly for intelligence surveillance,” which was aimed at conducting “signals intelligence collection operations.”
The new information was collected by high-flying U-2 spy planes that captured detailed imagery of the balloon floating at around 60,000 ft. before the U.S. military shot it out of the sky, while sensors on the planes collected electronic data that emanated from the payload slung underneath the balloon. As a result, the government was able to determine some of the balloon’s capabilities and forensically piece together pictures of past flights over the U.S. and other countries
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Much like the 5G cell network equipment carriers purchased from Huawei.
Time is PROPAGANDA.
was likely capable of listening in on Americans’ communications and pinpointing the location of those conversing on the ground, according to the U.S. State Department.
= = =
They should read FR.
And listen to InfoWars.
“... said a State Department official, who provided a statement on the condition anonymity to discuss the information...”
At which point, you discard ALL the information from this article since:
a) there is no need to be anonymous
b) there’s probably no way to know things that fast.
c) an article like this, if accurate, should not have even gone out in the first place.
We will have to wait and see what happens with the next balloon in a week or two but why did this one go over military sites if not for surveillance ?
It wasn’t simply floating. It has motors that allowed steering. It could target what it flew over. So yeah it is a big deal.
It wasn’t simply floating. It has motors that allowed steering. It could target what it flew over. So yeah it is a big deal.
Well, that was pretty freakin’ obvious...
LOL!
Post of the day!
Your logic is impeccable!
For what it’s worth I was questioning the apparent contradiction between the post “...the payload was likely lost for good” and that the balloon apparently came down in 48 feet of water.
And I understand that rough seas are hampering the recovery of the payload. I have to think that recovery of an object at a depth, even one the ‘size of a bus’ is well within the capability of our Navy divers.
But do you look forward to learning from the government what this balloon was actually doing?
[... we didn’t want to shoot it down over land because the wreckage could have caused damage on the ground...] (paraphrasing)
But yet, there remains standing orders to shoot down ANY commercial airline that strays off course and doesn’t respond to commands.
Too bad it didn’t fly over Indiana the Chicoms would have gotten an ear full.
They didn’t know it wasn’t weaponized or didn’t contain substances that could be airborne. I suspect that was the real reason. The area could have been cleared to avoid direct hits. No one knows what will happen with the next and next although obviously a shoot down is safer over unpopulated environments.
Stayed tuned in to the View the entire time we won.
Reports are they have found it and it is intact.
The only reports I’ve seen were that the balloon was recovered. You know how the Democrats parse their words. We shall see.
It's essential that the sunk payload be recovered quickly as saltwater is corrosive to electronics if not adequately protected. Just guessing, I suspect that the whole payload would be disconnected from power sources likely while still in the water. Once recovered to the ship, probably start a fresh water rinse before anything else is done. Pull circuit boards out fast.
I think the key items to exploit are likely microprocessors and memory. Most everything else is simply a support function to keep these two items functioning.
I've read speculation that self destruct systems may be present. No clue if this is accurate.
Navy divers can work okay in rough seas but past a point, payload recovery to a ships deck gets more complicated to impossible. If necessary, the divers can work off of RIBs which bob like a cork. Underwater, it's pretty calm water although currents can be present in shallower water.
Professional diving can be incredibly dangerous. One of my cousins was married to a North Sea diver working in the oild fields when her family lived in Scotland. After a couple of years, they moved to the US and the guy took a contractor job doing nuclear power plant maintenance. He only worked a month or two then would have his yearly dose of radiation. Vacation a year then back to work. This was way safer than the North Sea pipelines and rigs.
My opinions…
Military electronics is a lot farther along than what civilians see. The Chinese learned a lot of tricks from that P-3.
According to the transcript of the radio conversation between the fighter jets and the operations control center, the instrument package on the balloon deployed radar chafe when the missile exploded (a little late) and then a parachute deployed on the instrument package. The fighter then marked the spot where the instruments went down with smoke.
I suspect the Navy has it all in hand or knows exactly where to look. It is under a mere 50ft of water.
Wow, didn’t know that. Amazing.
A parachute? Then someone maybe was expecting to recover it somehow. If they recover it maybe they’ll tell the truth for once.
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