The incident does not deflate. The balloon crossing the American sky at the moment is not a weather probe that would have drifted “by mistake”, as Beijing claims. The Pentagon spokesman insisted on Friday during a new press conference: “We know it’s a surveillance balloon. A diplomatic-military clash that prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone his visit to China scheduled for this weekend.
“The thing is, it’s a spy balloon. We know it’s a surveillance balloon, ”insisted Pat Ryder, refusing to give further details. He said the balloon was about 60,000 feet (18.3 km), higher than commercial air traffic, and was flying over the central United States at midday, heading east.
The balloon is, assures the spokesperson, “maneuverable” and did not simply follow the jet streams. For now, the Pentagon refuses to say whether it will attempt to shoot down or capture the balloon once it is over the Atlantic. According to NBC News, the balloon is the size of “three buses” and carries instruments powered by solar panels.
“Down that balloon,” Trump demands
According to American media, the balloon flew over the Aleutian Islands in the northern Pacific Ocean, then passed through Canadian airspace, before entering the United States about two days ago. He notably flew over the state of Montana (west), which is home to nuclear missile silos.
On Wednesday, F-22 Raptor fighter jets approached but it was decided not to shoot it down, due to the risks posed by possible debris to those on the ground. “Down that balloon!” “, urged former Republican President Donald Trump on Truth Social, while the Republican opposition seized on the incident to denounce the outstretched hand, according to them, by the Biden administration towards Beijing.
Antony Blinken’s visit to China would have been the first by an American secretary of state since October 2018, when the two superpowers seek to prevent the intense tensions between them from degenerating into open conflict.