Leaked Intelligence Doc Says US Officials Aware of Four Additional Chinese Spy Balloons: Report
Last Updated: April 16, 2023, 10:18 IST
Washington, United States
The balloon was first spotted by the US on January 28 and ultimately shot down by the US military. (Credits: Twitter/AFP)
The report said that apart from the February China spy balloon incident, a second balloon flew over an American carrier strike group in the Pacific Ocean, but was never reported
US intelligence officials were aware of four additional Chinese spy balloons, apart from the one that flew over the North American space and was shot down earlier in February, a report has said.
The Washington Post, quoting leaked Pentagon documents, said that apart from the prominently reported China spy balloon incident, a second balloon flew over an American carrier strike group in the Pacific Ocean but was never reported.
A third craft crashed in the South China Sea, the report said quoting a top-secret document. However, there were no details on the launch dates.
The leaked intelligence also said that US intelligence agencies continued to have questions about the February spy balloon as they were unable to identify sensors and antennas of the Chinese craft weeks after it was shot down.
The revelation was based on the documents that The Washington Post obtained from classified documents leaked online.
Jack Teixeira, 21, believed to be behind the leak, was arrested for orchestrating the most damaging leak in a decade following a week-long probe. The documents also unveiled US concern over Ukraine’s ability to fend off the Russian invasion, and showed Washington has spied on allies Israel and South Korea.
The US officials named the first Chinese spy balloon, that was shot down in February, as Killeen-23 and labelled the two other balloons from previous years as Bulger-21 and Accardo-21.
However, the documents didn’t make it clear if Bulger-21 and Accardo-21 were the same balloons that flew over the carrier strike group and crashed.
The report said that Bulger-21 carried sophisticated surveillance equipment and circumnavigated the globe from December 2021 until May 2022. Accardo-21 carried similar equipment as well as a “foil-lined gimbaled, it added.
The balloons are believed to be named after notorious criminals, including Tony Accardo, James “Whitey” Bulger, and Donald Killeen.
The Chinese balloon spotted in the North American airspace had made headlines before it was shot down by a F-22 fighter.
Republicans had criticized the Joe Biden administration for not shooting down the Chinese surveillance balloon quickly enough, arguing that it allowed the Chinese government additional time to spy.
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