Free Republic

"U.S. intelligence officials have determined that the Chinese spy balloon that flew across the U.S. this year used an American internet service provider to communicate, according to two current and one former U.S. official familiar with the assessment." "The balloon connected to a U.S.-based company, according to the assessment, to send and receive communications from China, primarily related to its navigation. Officials familiar with assessment said it found that the connection allowed the balloon to send burst transmissions, or high-bandwidth collections of data over short periods of time." More at link

The Administration knew about the spy balloon but sought to conceal it from the American public. The Biden regime did not even notify the Gang of Eight Congressional leaders about the security breach by the Communist Chinese. Retired General Mark Milley knew about the Chinese balloon but followed the lead of the Biden regime and kept it from the public. NBC reported: On a Friday evening last January, Gen. Glen VanHerck, the Air Force commander in charge of defending American airspace from intrusion, called President Joe Biden’s top military adviser, Gen. Mark Milley. U.S. intelligence officials had just notified the...

In late January and early February, a China spy balloon crossed over Alaska and the continental United States. The Biden regime was aware of the Chinese spy balloon in US air space for a week, since the previous Saturday, January 28th. The Biden administration initially ignored the threat hoping the balloon would not be detected. But after amateur photographers captured the balloon flying over Montana the Biden White House had to admit they knew about the balloon. The balloon crossed over major US military bases and missile silos. This was an unprecedented national security threat. .... Snip.... And this week...

The large balloons sighted recently in the western hemisphere from South America, Canada, Alaska, and the continental United States, and the shooting down of the Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of South Carolina has resulted in eyes being drawn to the skies looking for further developments in the appearance of unannounced aircraft. It has also come to light that massive balloons have been sighted before near the United States, but did not previously make the news headlines. The wreckage of the Chinese spy balloon shot down off South Carolina was quickly recovered by navy...

In the days since the U.S. Air Force shot down three unidentified objects out of the sky, questions linger about just what these objects actually were. On Thursday, a report by Aviation Week offered an intriguing hypothesis about what one of those three objects could be: a "missing in action" globe-trotting balloon belonging to an Illinois-based hobbyist club. The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade’s (NIBBB) silver-coated, party-style "pico balloon" reported its last position on Feb. 10 at nearly 40,000 ft. off the west coast of Alaska.

A mystery object shot down by U.S. fighter jets amid ongoing hysteria sparked by a Chinese spy balloon may have been a $12 inflatable launched by a hobby group in Illinois. The Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade (NIBBB) reported one of its balloons 'missing in action' around the same location - and at the time time - a U.S. Air Force jet downed an unidentified object near Alaska using a $400,000 Sidewinder missile.

Laura Rosenberger, President Joe Biden’s top adviser on matters related to China and Taiwan, will step down in March, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, citing White House officials. Rosenberger serves as a special assistant to the president and senior director on the National Security Council and has guided the president amid Washington’s increasing tensions with Beijing and will see out her term as the administration grapples with fallout from the shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon in America’s coastal waters on Feb. 4. However, Rosenberger’s plans to step down preceded the balloon invading U.S. airspace and sparking bipartisan concern in Congress...

By the time a Chinese spy balloon crossed into American airspace late last month, U.S. military and intelligence agencies had been tracking it for nearly a week, watching as it lifted off from its home base near China’s south coast, an earlier sighting of the balloon than has been previously known. U.S. monitors watched as the balloon settled into a flight path that would appear to have taken it over the U.S. territory of Guam. But somewhere along that easterly route, the craft took an unexpected northern turn, according to several U.S. officials, who said that analysts are now examining...

CBS News on Tuesday night reported US Intelligence actually saw the spy balloon lift off near China’s south coast and tracked it for nearly a week before it entered US airspace. “U.S. intelligence watched the Chinese spy balloon as it lifted off near China’s south coast, meaning the U.S. military had been tracking it for nearly a week before it entered U.S. airspace. Longer than originally know,” CBS News reported. “What they saw was this balloon heading east from China towards Guam and Hawaii, but then it took a sharp northward turn – a beeline towards Alaska!” CBS reported. Via...

There’s more breaking news about that “object” that was just shot down over the Yukon in Canada by USAF F-22 Raptor.According to the description by the Canadian officials, the description of the object was very similar to that of the object downed over Alaska on Friday. “We have no further details about the object at this time other than it appears to be a small, cylindrical object” pic.twitter.com/ocB4FnEVTQ— Acyn (@Acyn) February 12, 2023The official described it as “small, cylindrical,” and smaller than the Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by the U.S. military last week.It also appears to have...

Saturday, the FAA issued a Notice to Air Missions (or whatever they’re calling it this week) closing northern Montana airspace “to support Department of Defense activities.” According to FlightRadar24.com, a USAF KC-135 tanker flying without a callsign is boring holes in the sky in the restricted airspace. This implies something is on the way to that location that will need gas.The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) has declined to provide further information.The newly restricted area is on the same route as the Chinese spy balloon shot down a week ago.This comes only hours after a US F-22 splashed another...

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) praised Joe Biden Thursday for waiting until the China spy balloon had crossed the entire United States before shooting it down over water. Romney spoke to reporters after an all-senators classified briefing on the spy balloon. ..... Snip..... "My questions were satisfactorily answered and I believe the administration, the president, our military and our intelligence agencies acted skillfully and with care. At the same time, their capabilities are extraordinarily impressive,” Romney told reporters after the briefing. "Was everything done 100% correctly? I can't imagine that would be the case of almost anything we do. But I...

1:27 During a portion of an interview with CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin released on Wednesday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated that in response to the Chinese spy balloon that flew over the country last week, the United States ensured that its nuclear bases “were buttoned down” and that “movement was limited and communications were limited so that we didn’t expose any capability unnecessarily.” Austin also stated that the buttoning down applied to nuclear bases all across the United States. Martin asked, “You don’t know what it was looking for, but you certainly know what you were...

GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) suggested she will bring a white balloon to Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address to troll Joe Biden. Joe Biden will deliver his State of the Union Address Tuesday evening at the US Capitol amid multiple scandals. Biden is under a special counsel investigation after his lawyers ‘found’ stolen classified documents at his private office and Wilmington home. Joe Biden is also facing a separate investigation for allowing a China spy balloon to traverse across the United States and gather intelligence on military bases. Biden waited until Saturday – 7 full days –...

0:33: FRANK01: What I recommend is that we go back to the tanker for one top-off and will be back on station in approximately two zero mike and then we move the tankers to about 40 miles south of the shoot line. The shoot line is at 1-3-0 currently. 1:01: FRANK01: A-firm. If..a..yeah we could probably make it happen we'll just need up our gas or else we will be diverting. 1:32: HUNTRESS: …when it comes to the firing line you asked for Whiskey 137 or Whiskey 122? 1:37: FRANK01: We can adjust it depending on what is easiest, but...

A slightly different story emerged in the Washington Post, which reported that the Pentagon knew of "past Chinese surveillance balloons near Florida and Texas." Wait a minute: Near Florida and Texas? What does near mean? Were the balloons over those states? Were they offshore but over U.S. territorial waters? The Washington Post suggested the Pentagon was not being entirely clear. "The Defense Department was not specific about where in each state the previous incursions occurred," the paper reported, citing Rep. Michael Waltz, a Republican on the House Armed Services Committee. "[Waltz] added that officials did not say whether the balloons...

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said on CNN’s “State of the Union” the President Joe Biden not addressing the nation about the Chinese balloon was “the beginning of dereliction of duty.” Host Jake Tapper said, “Your colleague and friend Republican Tim Scott of South Carolina accused President Biden of, quote, ‘dereliction of duty by allowing the Chinese spy balloon to fly across the U.S.’ That’s a pretty strong accusation. Do you agree with it?” Rubio said, “Well, I think the dereliction of duty begins with this. Why not Tuesday or Wednesday — you know people are going to see it. At...

Chinese state-owned television aired footage of a high-altitude balloon dropping hypersonic weapons in 2018. The stunning footage displays a high-altitude balloon, not dissimilar from the one that traversed over the United States last week, carrying three hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) into high altitude and dropping them for testing. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported on the weapons test in September 2018. The footage has since been deleted from Chinese media, but photographs and short clips can still be found online. In one post from 2018, a Twitter user shared footage from Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, which shows the balloon lifting...

A Congressman needs to smuggle in a white helium balloon model of the Chinese balloon into the chamber during the State of the Union....to let it go floating up during the speech....

NORAD, the Pentagon‘s command defending North America, was tracking the Chinese surveillance balloon well before it entered U.S. or Canadian airspace, its commander said Monday, noting that at about 200 feet tall and carrying a payload the size of a jet airliner, it would have been hard for trackers to miss. But Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of NORAD, said that as the suspected spy surveillance craft made its way across Alaska and Canada before crossing back into U.S. territory last week, there wasn’t much the military could do without a presidential order to act, given there was no...