The defense official said what concerned them about this launch was the altitude the balloon was flying at and the length of time it lingered over a location, without providing specifics. A photograph of a large white balloon lingering over the area was captured by the Billings Gazette, but the Pentagon would not confirm if that was the surveillance balloon. Wednesday, as the military provided options to the White House. All air traffic was halted at Montana’s Billings Logan International Airport from 1:30 p.m. The official would not specify the size of the balloon, but said it was large enough that despite its high altitude, commercial pilots could see it. has assessed that the balloon has “limited” value in terms of providing China intelligence it couldn’t already collect by other means, such through spy satellites. The defense official said the spy balloon was trying to fly over the Montana missile fields, but the U.S. It was not clear what the military was doing to prevent it from collecting sensitive information or what will happen with the balloon if it isn’t shot down. The Pentagon ultimately recommended against it, noting that even as the balloon was over a sparsely populated area of Montana, its size would create a debris field large enough that it could have put people at risk. did get fighter jets, including F-22s, ready to shoot down the balloon if ordered to by the White House. The senior defense official said the U.S. It was not immediately clear if the discovery of the balloon would impact Blinken’s travel plans. Although the trip has not been formally announced, both Beijing and Washington have been talking about his imminent arrival. The incident comes as Secretary of State Antony Blinken was supposed to make his first trip to Beijing, expected this weekend, to try to find some common ground. has “engaged” Chinese officials through multiple channels and communicated the seriousness of the matter. took steps to ensure it did not collect sensitive information. He said similar balloon activity has been seen in the past several years.

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