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The White House said Friday it is "keeping all options on the table" regarding the Chinese spy balloon after President Biden followed "strong" recommendations from defense officials not to shoot down the aircraft due to safety to people on the ground. White House officials said Biden made his decision based on a "strong recommendation" from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Mark Milley and the commander of Northern Command

On Thursday afternoon the Pentagon announced that a “high altitude surveillance balloon” had been located over the continental United States over the last two days, and that steps had been taken to ensure that sensitive military and government information was not at risk of being intercepted, but that the balloon was still drifting over the country. While the official didn’t state which country the Pentagon believes owns this weapon of war, a “senior official” said they’re “confident” it belongs to China.Many excuses have been given about why the balloon hasn’t been intercepted or shot down, and now Bill Melugin of...

(CNN) — News that the Pentagon is monitoring a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon in the skies over the continental United States raises a series of questions — not least among them, what exactly it might be doing. US officials have said the flight path of the balloon, first spotted over Montana on Thursday, could potentially take it over a “number of sensitive sites” and say they are taking steps to “protect against foreign intelligence collection.”

The U.S. military is currently monitoring a suspected Chinese spy balloon that has been hovering for several days over the northern United States. Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement on Thursday that the “high-altitude surveillance balloon” poses no immediate threat to the United States and will be monitored for the time-being. “The United States Government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,” said Ryder, adding: The U.S. government, including NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely. The balloon is currently traveling at an...

The People's Republic of China confirmed Friday that the balloon craft floating over the northern United States is Chinese. "The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed Friday. "Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course." The spokesperson said China regrets the incident. The statement continued, "The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure. The Chinese side will continue communicating with the US side and properly handle this...

A NOAA air current model shows the China spy balloon is expected to traverse the United States heartland through the Midwest and Southern states on Friday before heading out to the Atlantic Ocean passing over the U.S. Navy base at Newport News, Virginia. Joe Biden refused to shoot down the balloon, however Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelled a planned trip to Beijing in protest. The NOAA HYSPLIT* model was used to reverse track the balloon from China. The balloon flew over the Aleutian Islands, then into Canada air space before crossing into U.S. airspace over Montana and a U.S....

Well, just when you thought you'd heard enough of this balloon story, there's always a little bit more. R A W S A L E R T S @rawsalerts · Follow 🚨#BREAKING: Canada’s defense ministry states it is tracking a second spy balloon 📌#Canada | #CA Currently Canada’s defense ministry states know as NORAD it is actively tracking second a high-altitude surveillance balloon was that was just detected this is developing From Fox News: Canadian national defense forces are monitoring the Chinese spy balloon detected over Montana and a "potential second incident..." The Canadian government has publicly affirmed their country's...