What is known about the mysterious “Chinese” balloon in the skies of the United States: why should Beijing use it for spying instead of a satellite?

It was in the late hours of Thursday that the news began appearing on news portals around the world. The United States reported it he had discovered a spy balloonpresumably belonging to China, flying over the state of Montana, a find that has already opened a front of tension between the two countries and triggered multiple questions that still have no answer.

It was the Pentagon that reported that the presence of the flying object had been detected, which it had already done several days It was flying over US territory. The Defense Department added that it had decided not to shoot down the balloon because there was a risk that its parts would fall on the civilian population.

The timing of the disclosure of the incident is particularly relevant given that it comes just days before the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, trip to Chinawhere he will meet President Xi Jinping.

Blinken, the highest-ranking member of the current government to visit China and the first Secretary of State to do so in six years, will arrive in Beijing at a time of singular tension, just as the United States announces a expanding its presence in the Philippinesa strategy that experts say is directly related to its intention to improve its capacity in the face of a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

China asks to investigate

China, for its part, said it was verifying the information but urged not to “conjecture” or “exaggerate the matter until the facts are clear”.

Right now uncertainty abounds and certainties are few. To security analysts, it’s unclear why China would use it half so rudimentary to gather information, as it has satellites with infinite capacity to perform this task.

There are also speculations about what there may be in Montana worth spying on.

What is a spy balloon and how big is it?

Based on the hot air balloon, the invention developed by the Montgolfier brothers, spy balloons fly over a certain area in order to collect information. They are equipped with spy gadgets, especially a camera.

His flight altitude ranges from 24,000 to 37,000 meters, much higher than that of commercial aircraft, which do not exceed 12,000 meters. In addition to the possibility of including a radar, they are powered by solar energy to control their flight.

The first use of balloons in the military dates back to the American Civil War (1861-1865), when the height was used to monitor enemy lines.

According to Pentagon officials who held the press conference, the spy balloon detected over Montana is roughly the size of “three passenger buses.”

Why should China use a spy balloon and not a satellite?

It is the question that circulates the most in these hours. The spy balloon was a tactic used extensively in the Cold War, but with today’s technology it has become obsolete. Pentagon officials said in their press conference that the information that can be gathered is very limited.

However, some experts suggest that the balloon’s slower speed also allows it to monitor a specific area for longer periods. On the other hand, a satellite it is limited to its orbital path.

For some analysts, the globe actually it was a signal from Beijing to Washington. A subtle way to show the US what technology it has and what it is willing to do.

“It is possible that the ultimate goal was to detect it. China could use the balloon to demonstrate that it has a sophisticated technological capability to penetrate US airspace. without risking a serious escalation. In that sense, a balloon is an ideal option,” Arthur Holland Michel of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs told the BBC.

“China has other means to spy on American infrastructure or whatever information it wanted to get. The balloon was supposed to send a signal to the Americans and also to see how they reacted,” said Benjamin Ho, China’s program coordinator for China. British outlet, the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

China has several satellites orbiting more than 300 miles above the Earth. Like their American counterparts, Chinese satellites they can take pictures and monitor the dropping of weaponsas described by US officials.

Why was he flying over Montana?

Another crucial question concerns what’s in the hillbilly which may be of interest to China. In the State there is the Missile Arm 341, at the Malmstrom air base, one of three US bases that operate and maintain ballistic missiles intercontinental.

For some analysts, the more likely scenario is that the balloon is picking up information on the communication system and radars.

“Some of these systems use extremely high frequencies which are short range and therefore can be absorbed by the atmosphere. A balloon might work better rather than a satellite for this specific type of data collection,” Peter Layton, a fellow at Australia’s Griffith Asia Institute and a former Royal Australian Air Force officer, told CNN.

Speaking of the balloon’s trajectory, Pentagon officials said it had been there traveled from China to the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It then continued across northwestern Canada before arriving somewhere in Montana on Wednesday.

Has China ever used spy balloons on the United States?

The Pentagon has stated that while this It wasn’t the first time China had sent spy balloons in the United States, this particular object appears to have hovered over the country the longest.

Both countries have a history of spying on each other. US officials visiting China on diplomatic missions have been known to expect their conversations to be monitored.

Source: The New York Times, EFE, BBC and CNN