Pentagon gives the LATEST on the Chinese spy balloon that continues to move over the US

by The Right Scoop

The Pentagon has just given a briefing on the Chinese spy balloon that is moving over the US.

They are continuing to monitor the balloon and says it poses no threat to civilians.

Here’s a few clips from the presser:

The Pentagon here says the balloon continues to move eastward over the CENTER of the continental US and they are continuing to monitor it. Last night I think it was over the NORTHERN part of the US.

Below, the Pentagon confirms that they know it IS a surveillance balloon despite what the Chinese government claims, but their spox wouldn’t elaborate any more on that.

In terms of whether people might try to interfere with the balloon, the Pentagon says it’s currently at about 60,000 feet which is well above where commercial aircraft fly. He acknowledges that civilian cameras and other instruments can see the balloon and says NORAD is closely monitoring it.

As an aside the verbiage in the tweet is slightly wrong. The Pentagon says it poses NO threat to people on the ground.

The Pentagon confirms that shooting down the balloon was an option but because it poses no threat to people on the ground they did not do that and are continuing to monitor it.

 
The question was asked about the ability for the balloon to collect very sensitive information and the Pentagon pox says as soon as the balloon was detected they acted to prevent it from collecting sensitive info:

 
Another question was asked if the position of the balloon is classified and if the public has a right to know it’s location. The Pentagon spox responded that people can certainly look up in the sky and see the balloon:

I would think we’d absolutely have a right to know and I guess we’ll have to depend on civilian equipment to know it’s location. In fact I would guarantee that there are plenty of civilians on the ground trying to track and photograph the balloon.

Lastly, the Pentagon says the balloon will be over the US for a few more days:


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