(RepublicanDaily.org) – The U.S. tracked the initial Chinese spy balloon from its initial deployment out of Hainan Island, PRC along an “unusual path,” The Washington Post reported.
Despite these reports, the U.S. intel officials assigned to the inquiry are assessing the possibility that the balloon’s path over the United States was “accidental,” CNN reported.
The balloon was first spotted in the United States airspace over Alaska and proceeded to float over Montana, where it was spotted by American citizens. The Governor of Montana told Fox News that the balloon was “spotted by a photographer at the airport.”
The Pentagon stated that it was reluctant to fire on the balloon, fearing that its debris would pose a risk to civilians on the ground. This defense was condemned by the Governor of Montana Greg Gianforte, who told Fox News that, if left to Montana, the balloon would have been shot out of the sky upon identification.
Gianforte said that the federal government did not inform him they had detected the balloon until after the craft was already “100s of miles into Montana.”
The Biden administration’s response to the Chinese spy balloon outraged members of Congress. Congress plans a full review of these events and the U.S. response to them, Reuters reported. The review plans were announced following a vote by Congress to condemn the actions of the Chinese regime for sending the balloon into U.S. and Canadian airspace. Congress plans to take a bipartisan look at the Chinese balloon issue, in what political analysts noted as a rare show of unity between the two parties, as votes to condemn the Chinese balloon were unanimous.
Chinese regime leadership denied that the balloon was intended for espionage or intelligence gathering, claiming that it was a weather balloon, Reuters reported. Additionally, China has claimed that the United States has sent similar aircraft into its airspace in recent months, Reuters reported. The United States has denied these allegations.
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