Nearly one year ago, a Chinese spy balloon floated across the United States, all the way from Alaska to the Carolina coast, where it was finally shot down.
The balloon was first spotted in Montana, but a new report has revealed that Joe Biden and General Mark Milley knew it was in U.S. airspace long before that. They just tried to conceal it from the American people as long as possible.
With neither Biden or Milley taking any action to stop it, the Chinese balloon was allowed to soar over U.S. infrastructure, nuclear silos, and military bases from one end of the nation to the other.
As it turns out, how long the balloon was in U.S. territory wasn’t the only secret General Milley tried to hide from the American people.
According to a new report, Milley was informed that the balloon was carrying a “large payload of surveillance equipment” but still lied about it.
Take a look:
General Milley Knew Chinese Spy Balloon Was Collecting Data Over US but Lied About It to American Public via @gatewaypundit https://t.co/43EWSacqeh
— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) December 24, 2023
In September, Gen. Mark Milley, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told @CBSNews that #China’s spy balloon did not gather intelligence while it was over the #US. A @NBCNews report states the balloon did in fact collect and transmit intelligence: https://t.co/ggCPyFEHGK.
— Gordon G. Chang (@GordonGChang) December 23, 2023
NBC News originally reported:
Administration officials at first hoped to conceal the balloon’s existence from the public, and from Congress, according to multiple former and current administration and congressional officials.
“Before it was spotted publicly, there was the intention to study it and let it pass over and not ever tell anyone about it,” said a former senior U.S. official briefed on the balloon incident.
A senior Biden administration denied that there was an attempt to keep the balloon secret. “To the extent any of this was kept quiet at all, that was in large part to protect intel equities related to finding and tracking” the official said, referring to intelligence gathering on the balloon. “There was no intention to keep this from Congress at any point.”
Soon after VanHerck’s phone call with Milley, U.S. military jets dispatched from Alaska used their targeting pods to determine what was on board the object. They confirmed that it was a Chinese spy balloon that was not carrying offensive weapons but was outfitted with a large payload of surveillance equipment.
VanHerck began sending emails every 12 hours to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Milley and other Pentagon leaders to update them on the balloon’s location, threat, projected flight path and likely intent.
In one email, VanHerck wrote that he determined the balloon was not an imminent threat and did not have hostile intent, so he did not have the authority to shoot it down. That order would have to come from the Pentagon and the White House.
Biden first learned of the balloon on Jan. 31, three days after VanHerck’s phone call to Milley. Top aides told the president it was over Canada and appeared headed for the continental U.S. Biden asked the military to develop options for how to deal with it.
Early photos from the U.S. military of the balloon’s payload showed antennas that were likely used to listen to cellphones and other signals. The payload weighed about 2,000 pounds and was about 200 feet tall.
The balloon’s ability to fly and gather intelligence was primarily powered by 16 solar panels, U.S. officials later determined. It was remotely steered for a time from inside of China, while also using the wind and the jet stream to push it across the U.S.
ADVERTISEMENTBiden’s military advisers warned him that it could not be safely shot down because of the massive potential debris field it would create. NASA initially assessed that field to be 70 miles wide and 70 miles long, with thousands of pounds of debris falling 65,000 feet, potentially onto structures and people below.
The president asked basic questions about the balloon and its capabilities. At times, he grew frustrated with how little U.S. intelligence officials knew about China’s spy balloon program.
Fox News also commented on the secrets the Biden admin tried to hide:
Despite Biden administration officials assuring the American public that the Chinese spy balloon did not collect and transmit data, a previously unreported phone call paints a different picture of top officials hiding information about the balloon.
According to NBC News, a Jan. 27 phone call between President Joe Biden’s top military adviser, Gen. Mark Milley and NORAD chief Gen. Glen VanHerck sheds new light on China’s surveillance balloon. The network also reported that the administration initially hoped to keep the balloon’s existence a secret from Congress and the public, citing multiple former and current administration and congressional officials.
“Before it was spotted publicly, there was the intention to study it and let it pass over and not ever tell anyone about it,” one former senior U.S. official told NBC.
What do you make of this?
I would believe this would be called treason, but they are protected by the Democrat Gestapo…
Confirmed: Biden Admin Sought to Conceal Chinese Spy Balloon from Public As It Crossed Continental United States – Mark Milley Involved https://t.co/pR4iaEEE79 #gatewaypundit via…
— ⚔Dennis⚔ (@clovis1931) December 23, 2023
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