Chance (5 Feb 2023)
"Chinese Spy Balloons Over the U.S. and Canada"


 
Hello John and Doves,
 
This is interesting news:
 
A Chinese spy balloon is being 'monitored' by NORAD as it drifts over the northern U.S.  Seems it has been tracked by NORAD for some time, and they've been watching it since it entered our air space.  It had been  flying over the U.S. for a couple of days by the time this hit the news on February 2. 
 
Officials are calling this a "high-altitude surveillance" balloon.  Biden chose against firing at the balloon, which was spotted over Montana on Wednesday and Thursday, after consulting with the nation's top military brass."
 
F-22s and AWACs (airborne early warning aircraft) were mobilized by NORAD and the Billings, Montana airport was shutdown.
 
The reason given for not shooting this down is "risk to safety and security of the people on the ground."
 
Officials are telling us that "currently this balloon has limited value from an intelligence collection perspective" and "we are taking all necessary steps to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information."
 
Sure looks like all they are doing is watching it.  And this "surveillance" balloon wouldn't be there if it wasn't of value to "somebody".
 
"...Republican lawmakers and other prominent conservatives were quick to lash out at the president for allowing the balloon to remain in the air."
 
McCarthy is requesting a "Gang of Eight briefing."  Tweeting "China's brazen disregard for U.S. sovereignty is a destabilizing action that must be addressed."
 
Jack Posobiec tweeted, "The CCP can send spy balloons over our nuclear silos and we will do nothing Be (because) we are owned."
 
run time 2:46
 
 
The balloon is the size of three buses and has a "technology bay".  And it's been hoovering over our U.S. military installation that oversees Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.  That should be worrisome..to someone?  "Malmstrom AFB, in northern Montana, is in charge of ICBMs...."
Montana Military Bases | MilitaryBases.com
 
A couple weeks ago, Ted Cruz said 'Democrats are owned by the CCP'.  Joe Biden is just too cozy with the Chinese.  Back in 2021, Cruz said, "China poses the single greatest geopolitical threat to the United States over the next century...One of the really disturbing patterns we've seen with the Biden nominee (for U.S. secretaries/cabinet nominees) after Biden nominee is a warm embrace of China."  He was referring to primarily Raimondo and Mayorkas, among others. 
Ted Cruz: Joe Biden Has Rushed to ‘Embrace’ Communist China
 
Mayorkas, DHS director, has kept our southern border wide open - telling us "the border is secure", which everyone knows is an outright lie.  Wouldn't be surprised if the Chinese told him to step away from the border and leave it unprotected!  And  Raimondo is the U.S. Secretary of Commerce.  "The husband of Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo is a top executive at a tech company that counts a venture capital firm linked to the Chinese Communist Party as one of its investors."  He is the chief people officer of an AI firm backed by Danhua Capital - which is financed by the CCP.  Sure looks like our Commerce Secretary has some conflicts of interest!
Gina Raimondo's husband reportedly works at company linked to China
 
 
Did the CCP know the U.S. military would not shoot these down?  Did Biden agree to that?  These balloons are gathering information that Chinese satellites can't get as these balloons can "hoover" over a site.  I don't know where these balloons came from - looks like Canada?  Or maybe CCP in Montana?  (There are reports that backtracking shows the balloons came from China, over Alaska and down through Canada.  Did Trudeau warn the US and we just didn't hear about that or did he say nothing?)
 
We are told they first appeared in US airspace in Montana. 
 
The CCP probably had reassurances from Biden et al. that they could do all the 'surveilling' they wanted or whatever else they are doing up there without any bother from the U.S. military. 
 
The CCP is getting some use out of these balloons or they wouldn't be up there!   
 
I certainly question the "top brasses' reasoning for not shooting this down ("safety and security of people on the ground") - Montana is a pretty rural state!  And they are allowing this balloon to traverse the U.S. to the Atlantic Ocean!  And the Pentagon said "it is likely unable to collect more information that is available to spy satellites."  Well, if that were true, why go to the bother of balloons in the first place?  China has spy satellites flying over the U.S. now!
 
After looking at several news articles about these balloons, this article from South Korea has much more information:
 
South Korea's CNN branch is also questioning the U.S. response to these spy balloons and exactly what might they be doing.  Reporting that "US officials have said the flight path of the balloon, first spotted over Montana on Thursday, could potentially take it over a "number of sensitive sites" and officials have said they are taking steps to "protect against foreign intelligence collection."
 
"But what's less clear is why Chinese spies would want to use a balloon, rather than a satellite to gather information.  This is not the first time a Chinese balloon has been spotted over the US, but this seems to be acting differently to previous ones, a US defense official said.  "It is appearing to hang out for a longer period of time, this time around, and is more persistent than in previous instances.  That would be one distinguishing factor," the official said...
 
Peter Layton, "a fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute in Australia and former Royal Australian Air Force officer was interviewed for this South Korea article.  He said,  "Balloon payloads can now weigh less and so the balloons can be smaller, cheaper, and easier to launch" than satellites..."  And they aren't always easy to spot.  "And balloons can do some things that satellites can't."  "An advantage of balloons is that they can be steered using onboard computers to take advantage of winds and they can go up and down to a limited degree.  This means they can loiter to a limited extent.  A satellite can't loiter, and so many are needed to criss-cross an area of interest to maintain surveillance"...
 
"According to Layton, the suspected Chinese balloon is likely collecting information on US communication systems and radars.  "Some of these systems use extremely high frequencies that are short range, can be absorbed by the atmosphere and being line-of-sight are very directional.  It's possible a balloon might be a better collection platform for such specific technical collection than a satellite"... "Retired US Air Force Col. Cedric Leighton, a CNN military analyst, echoed those thoughts.  "They could be scooping up signals intelligence.  In other words, they're looking at our cell phone traffic, our radio traffic...Intelligence data collected by the balloon could be relayed in real time via a satellite link back to China..."
 
"Analysts also noted that Montana and nearby states are home to US intecontinnental ballistic missile silos and strategic bomber bases."
 
China is looking into reports on these two balloons.  Yah, right.
 
The US cannot "ensure the balloon cannot collect any sensitive data" - what a ridiculous statement to make to the public!  And no one can say there isn't an EMP or a bioweapon on board!  Even Lt. General Michael Flynn tweeted the possibility of the balloon being big enough to carry an EMP device.
 
And US officials have stated that the CCP balloon is moving southeast and is expected to fly over the US for a few more days. It's expected to be over SE Missouri by Saturday.  Flying over South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Southern Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and North and South Carolina.  Flying right over where an EMP would do the most damage - the middle of the country.  And it's flying right over a bunch of silos on its trip and I don't know how many military installations.  And they announced the balloon did fly over Malmstrom Air Base!  Also, NORAD and the Canadian DOD are reporting the second balloon is being tracked 'somewhere' over Canada.
 
If Joe Biden wasn't president with all of his CCP buddies, I would write that this is 'just unbelievable!'. This thing should have been shot down from the get-go - not allowed to hover over military bases/silos and collect all kinds of info/data/transmissions/who knows.
 
Secretary of State Blinken is to travel to China for "high-level" talks soon.  When Blinken met the Chinese in Alaska, they pretty much chewed him up and spat him out.  What an embarrassment for the US!  Now he's going over there following this "balloon drama."  Lower your expectations!  
Balloon drama is the worst possible lead up to expected Blinken visit to China | CNN Politics
 
 
The war may come sooner, much sooner.
 
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
 
Maranatha!
 
Chance