The US government has confirmed that a Chinese surveillance balloon that was recently shot down by an F-22 fighter jet had crossed into US airspace three times during the Trump administration and once earlier in the Biden administration. The balloon spent several days flying over the US before it was shot down, leading to criticism from Republicans who claimed that the Biden administration was slow to respond and that no previous leader, including Donald Trump, would have allowed such a foreign object to fly over the country.
Despite this criticism, senior defense officials stated that the high-altitude object was large enough to create a large debris field and that the President was advised against immediately shooting it down due to safety concerns for civilians.
While it is unclear what information the suspected Chinese spy balloon could have gathered, US officials stated that it posed little threat in terms of intelligence gathering. The dimensions of the device have not been disclosed, but it was sighted near US military bases in Hawaii in the past five years.
Craig Singleton, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, stated that suspected surveillance balloons have been sighted several times in the past five years, though no official announcement was made during the Trump administration.
Mississippi Republican Senator Roger Wicker claimed that if press reports were correct, the Biden administration had hoped to hide the incident from the public. South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott also chimed in, stating that the balloon should have been shot down before it crossed the US and that the incident was a “dereliction of Biden’s duty.”
Despite the criticism from Republicans, it is unclear if balloons spotted during the Trump administration were shot down. A Pentagon spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on this matter.
(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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11 Responses
Trump was unaware of the Chinese spy balloons because he never bothered to read his briefing papers, instead relying on Fox and Friends for his information.
Stupid headline
The real headline should be 3 Chinese ballon’s crossed the US but the CIA did NOT tell Trump or his administration at the TIME it happened.
The corrupt CIA needs a house cleaning
More fake news from Yeshivaworld. This report has been thoroughly debunked. There were no balloons during the Trump administration.
YWN is repeating what is being said by the fake news Media and they are not bothering to add that former DNI John Ratcliffe has stated this morning on Fox that “NO spy balloon was over continental USA in trump years. ”
So here you have it, NO source vs J Ratcliffe and YWN joining fake news quoting the NO source and ignoring the former Director of National Intelligence.
Any else notice that almost a day hasn’t gone by that YWN is obsessed with knocking Trump in one way or another? Someone who was good to the Yidden, freed Rubashkin, Good for the country and economy. What do they have against him? if you don’t like him, that’s fine, but every single day you need to bash him? It’s a hatred that is so obvious to all. I think it’s because YWN want to be like all the left sites at all costs. Even if it means going against how a rational Yid should think.
@ Yaakov Doe
I think the reason why you left such a brilliant comment is because you never bother to do your own research you just rely on whatever misinformation CNN/YWN/ABC tells you.
YWN: instead of doling out unasked for opinions, maybe start becoming a real news organization and stop reporting fake news. Trump, Mark Esper, John Bolton (who hates trump), Robert O’Brien, John Ratcliffe, all refute this.
When Trump officials deny there were any intrusions over “the U.S.” during their term, they apparently mean over the continental U.S. There were definitely intrusions by PRC surveillance craft over Hawaii (which last time I checked was still part of the U.S.)
Why shoot it down causing dangerous fragmentation? Couldn’t a harpoon-type arrow do the trick with a trailing rope that would allow it to be pulled down to earth for examining the equipment?
YWN: again you reporting like a stupid democrat you just copy paste what you see against trump even its not true
First line of defense of the Biden administration – it never happened.
2nd – Trjmp did it.
3rd – it is generals’ fault.
4th – nobody could have expected that
5th – you, racists.
AAQ: Wrong. Excuse no. 6…..NORAD never told us!!!