The John Locke Foundation

Why is China's Spy Balloon So Worrying

The 1950s called, and it wants its spy technology back.

This weekend, the U.S. military shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon, which had traversed much of the country. Beginning its trip via Canada before making its way through Montana, where much of our nuclear arsenal is housed, and then likely traveling through other states, including North Carolina, before finally meeting its end off the coast of South Carolina.

The Chinese government claims that the balloon was merely meant to study weather and had been blown off course. That it happened to hover over our nuclear weapon silos was a complete coincidence.

The whole scenario is very reminiscent of the Cold War-era, when the United States attempted similar tactics to spy on the USSR.

So, was this balloon, which has a sister currently hanging around South America, a provocation towards the United States and the West in general?

Probably.

The technology was cumbersome and obvious, but if the balloon was purely weather related, why not just announce its suspected journey ahead of time? The likely answer is that the Chinese were testing something, but exactly what is unclear. As salvage operations begin off the South Carolina coast and perhaps even into North Carolina as well, we’ll learn more about the purpose of this balloon.

But in the meantime, it’s still a rather worrying situation. Is it the opening salvo of what could become World War III, or a random weather balloon that happened to simply get blown off course and was heading to the magical land of Oz?

What do you think? Did you see the balloon hovering over North Carolina this weekend?

Have a wonderful week!

Brittany
 

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