China's Spy Balloon in US: Intelligence agents share intimate details about February incident
After seven months of the incident, US Intelligence community has finally revealed the findings of their investigation.
Truth about the Chinese spy balloon has been uncovered by US intelligence. The Chinese spy balloon incident in February had caused much furore in international arena. US officials had accused China of spying which the Asian nation had categorically denied. After seven months of the incident, Intelligence community has finally revealed the findings of their investigation.
In an interaction on "CBS News Sunday Morning," General Mark Milley who is chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has revealed what the balloon was all about and what exactly happened.
"The intelligence community, their assessment – and it's a high-confidence assessment – [is] that there was no intelligence collection by that balloon," said Milley.
Milley further highlighted that as per their investigation, the balloon had strayed from its path, flying over Alska, Canada and then into the United States. He said that winds at 60,000 feet contributed to the balloon's movement and the motor on it couldn't prevent that from happening.
"Those winds are very high. The particular motor on that aircraft can't go against those winds at that altitude," highlighted Milley.
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What had happened in February 2023?
The alleged Chinese spy balloon was downed by the US Air Force fighter aircraft, over the Atlantic Ocean. Later, the debris of the balloon was recovered by US Navy. Retrieved pieces of the debris were analysed at the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory in Virginia for counterintelligence exploitation.
"Recovery operations concluded February 16 off the coast of South Carolina, after US Navy assets assigned to US Northern Command successfully located and retrieved debris from the high-altitude PRC surveillance balloon," NORTHCOM had said in a statement at that time.
The incident had created major tensions in the diplomatic relations between the United States and China. China had claimed that the balloon wasn't meant for spying rather it was merely a weather research “airship” that had been blown off its course.