The Pentagon is monitoring a Chinese spy balloon flying over US soil, a senior US defense official said on Thursday.
At the request of President Joe Biden, the Pentagon considered shooting it down over the state of Montana, but the decision was made against doing so due to the potential dangers to those on the ground, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We are taking measures to protect ourselves against the collection of sensitive information,” he said, while insisting on “the limited added value in terms of information collection” of the device described as a fairly large soccer ball.
“We considered that it was large enough for the debris to cause damage” if it had been shot down in a populated area, according to the same source.
“Clearly, this balloon is intended for surveillance”
The porte-parole du Pentagone, Pat Ryder, specified that the commandement de la défense aérospatiale des Etats-Unis et du Canada (Norad) surveillait les mouvements du ballon, qui ne présente toutefois pas de “risque militaire ou physique pour les personnes au floor”.
“Clearly, this balloon is intended for surveillance and its current trajectory takes it over sensitive sites,” including nuclear silos, the first US official continued, referring to the western US state of Montana.
The balloon entered US airspace “several days ago” but US intelligence had been monitoring it since long before, the same source said, adding that it is not the first time the US military has noticed such an intrusion.
Source: BFM TV
