The Biden administration was reportedly planning to keep the Chinese spy balloon that traveled across North America in 2021 a secret from the public and even from Congress. The revelations, according to a former senior US official, were only made known to the authorities after civilians spotted the massive white orb over Montana, a damning new report has revealed.
The balloon, which penetrated American airspace and began a week-long tour of sensitive military sites, entered the US airspace over Alaska on January 27, according to the results from files containing information about the event. As soon as the North American Aerospace Defense Command spotted the huge spycraft, they informed Commander Gen. Glen VanHerck, who called Gen. Mark Milley, President Biden’s top military adviser, to alert the administration.
However, Biden himself was not informed until January 31, days after the balloon had entered US airspace. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, on the other hand, was too preoccupied with a diplomatic trip to Asia to pay heed, according to multiple officials in the administration and Congress.
“There wasn’t really an interest in burning bridges with China, nor was anyone planning on making a big stink out of it. Before it was spotted publicly, there was an intention to study it and let it pass over and not ever tell anyone about it,” the former senior US official stated in the report’s results.
The report’s revelations have sparked outrage across the political divide in the US, with several critics accusing the Biden administration of failing in its primary duty to protect American national security interests. According to a senior US official, “They weren’t paying attention. They should have been more proactive in preventing the breach from even happening.”
It remains unclear what information the Chinese spy balloon gathered during its tour and if it managed to obtain classified US military data. However, the incident has raised significant concerns about how international spying activities are conducted.
The US is known to conduct similar spying operations and has even been exposed over the years, but the latest report’s revelations confirm China’s determination to penetrate US airspace. The Biden administration has yet to comment on the matter.
