Array
The US has been tracking a Chinese spy balloon that has been floating over the northern part of the country for days, Pentagon officials announced Thursday.
A top Pentagon official said the US intelligence community has “very high confidence” that the balloon belongs to the People’s Republic of China and has been flying over sensitive sites to collect information for the past two days.
The official, speaking anonymously, said that one of the locations the balloon has been spotted was over Montana — home to one of the US’ three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
Fighter jets — including F-22s — were prepared to shoot the balloon down at President Biden’s direction and he was presented with options after which he proposed that the balloon be shot down, but his military leaders recommended against it out of safety concerns for civilians on the ground.
Pentagon press secretary Brig.
