The Biden administration planned to keep the Chinese spy balloon that traveled across North America this year a secret from the public and even Congress, and it only became clear after civilians spotted the huge white orb over Montana, according to a new damning report.
“Before it was publicly discovered, there was an intention to study it and let it go and never tell anyone about it,” a former senior U.S. official told NBC News on Friday, nearly 11 months after the balloon penetrated U.S. airspace. and begin a meandering week-long tour of sensitive military sites.
When the North American Aerospace Defense Command saw the massive spy craft enter U.S. airspace over Alaska on Jan. 27, Commander Gen. Glen VanHerck called Gen. Mark Milley, President Biden’s top military adviser, to alert the administration about the alarming intrusion.
But Biden himself was not briefed until Jan. 31, and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was too “focused” on a diplomatic trip to Asia to pay attention, according to several administration and congressional officials.
An Air Force U-2 pilot kept an eye on the Chinese spy balloon as it soared over the continental United States on February 3. AP President Biden absolved China’s Xi Jinping of blame for the spy balloon incident, claiming the incursion was “more disgraceful than intentional.” AP
“They weren’t paying attention,” said a senior US official.
By then, the balloon – the size of three school buses and equipped with solar panels and a payload of surveillance devices – had crossed half of Canada and re-entered the United States through Montana, while transmitting data it collected from sites military to Beijing.
The Biden administration remained silent until several Americans saw the orb in the distance.
When the Billings Gazette, a local Montana newspaper, published photos of the strange craft on February 2, the story sparked national outrage.
The spy balloon and its payload of surveillance equipment were so large that they could be easily seen from the ground. AP Two US Air Force F-22 aircraft shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean on February 4. AP
US Air Force aircraft shot down the balloon over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of South Carolina on February 4, after it had clearly floated across the continent, and members of Congress were finally fully informed. days after.
Months later, the president attempted to excuse Beijing for the brazen incursion.
“I don’t think the leaders knew where it was, or what was there, or what was going on,” Biden told reporters in June.
“I think it was more embarrassing than intentional.”
“There was no intention to hide this from Congress at any time,” a Biden administration official said, maintaining that the prolonged silence was necessary to “protect intelligence values related to the discovery and follow-up” of espionage.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn