Downed Chinese spy balloon ‘did collect data on military sites’

The balloon was able to gather sensitive information in real time and transmit it back to Beijing before it was shot down.

A US Air Force pilot looks down at the suspected Chinese surveillance balloon as it hovers over the country.

The Chinese spy balloon that triggered an international incident in February when it floated across the United States was able to gather intelligence from sensitive military sites, it has been reported.

Despite the Biden administration’s efforts to prevent it from transmitting data back to Beijing, it was able to do so in real time, according to NBC News.

Based on information from two present senior officials and one former administration official, NBC reported that the high-altitude balloon had made passes over several sites, sometimes flying in a figure-of-eight, broadcasting its findings back to China. The collected data was largely from electronic signals, which could be picked up from communications between base personnel or intercepted from weapons systems.

China might have collected even more intelligence if the administration had not intervened, the sources said.

Special agents assigned to the Evidence Response Team process material recovered from the high-altitude balloon recovered off the coast of South Carolina. Picture: FBI

The balloon’s existence was revealed in early February after it was spotted over the western US. The White House played down the potential impact on national security and delayed shooting it down, citing fears of hurting people on the ground.

The balloon eventually was shot down off the Atlantic coast on the orders of President Biden. Beijing said it was a civilian weather balloon that had blown off course.

The incident damaged relations between the US and China at an already tense time. Antony Blinken, the secretary of state, postponed a visit to Beijing and America’s military scoured the skies for other objects that might have been spying.

In mid-February Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, said a US fighter jet had downed an “unidentified object” high over the Yukon. Days earlier the US had taken similar action against an object over Alaska.

After the spy balloon was shot down, America said it would examine the debris. John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council, said: “It’s a significant amount [of recovered material], including the payload structure as well as some of the electronics and the optics.” He said the US had already learnt a significant amount from monitoring the balloon in the sky, but added: “We’re going to learn even more, we believe, by getting a look at the guts inside it and seeing how it worked and what it was capable of.”

THE TIMES