Breaking news,
the US
tracking a suspected Chinese spy
balloon flying over the United States.
This is a picture of the balloon
and that that balloon
is the size of three busses
and it was over Billings, Montana.
Video from our affiliate
in Billings also shows it
flying high in the sky over the city.
Right. I mean, it's they're very visible.
U.S.
officials said the balloon was observed
over Montana after flying over Canada.
President Biden has been briefed
on the situation.
A senior defense
official says he requested options
on how to deal with the massive balloon.
The military has so far decided
against shooting it down.
It comes as the secretary of state,
Antony Blinken, is about to leave
for a visit to China.
Oren Liebermann is OUTFRONT.
And Oren,
what more are you learning tonight
about this balloon,
which I mean,
just to state the obvious here,
they decided not to shoot it down,
but it's there, right?
I mean, it's still flying over the U.S.
as we speak.
And it has been for several days.
The Pentagon says
they've been tracking this
since it entered U.S.
airspace, essentially
coming in from over Canada.
And they have been monitoring it
since then, even launching F-22
fighter jets to keep an eye on this.
The Pentagon says it has traveled over
a number of sensitive sites
and although they won't specify
what those sites were.
We already know that Montana,
for instance,
is home to ballistic missile silos.
So it is possible that that's
what this balloon was going
after with its surveillance,
its intelligence gathering capabilities
as the Pentagon
keeps an eye to see where this is going
and what's happening here
and how it evolves
over the next several days here.
The Pentagon
obviously very concerned about this.
They do say this has happened
several times in the past.
They haven't said when,
but they did
say it happened
in previous administrations.
Of course, the key question is,
what do you do with this?
President Joe Biden was briefed about it.
He asked for military options.
But senior military leaders,
including chairman of the Joint Chiefs,
General Mark Milley, advised against
shooting it down, at least for now.
There is some risk to people
to essentially facilities on the ground
if you shoot it down.
Not all that much.
Montana isn't the most populated state,
but there is some.
Crucially, though,
the Pentagon says this doesn't
they don't believe this gives China
any huge surveillance or intelligence
gathering capabilities
over the satellites they already have.
Yes. So I guess we're into that question.
Do they know what it's doing
and why they're doing this now?
They don't have a specific answer
to that yet in terms
of what it's trying to gather.
Is it controllable?
What is it looking for?
But obviously,
this has raised tensions at a time
when they're pretty much already
sky high.
China reacting angrily to news
essentially just earlier today
that the U.S.
has gained access
to more bases in the Philippines
we saw a similar angry reaction
with the announcement from the U.S.
that they're essentially revamping
a Marine Corps facility in Okinawa,
right near Taiwan.
So the tensions are already high here.
This only adding to those tensions.
The Pentagon says they have raised this
with China, both through the embassy here
and in Beijing.
So that gives you an idea
of how angry they are.
And they pointed out that
if they do assess the risk is growing,
they do have options.
All right, Oren,
thank you very much for your reporting.
And now let's go to retired
Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.
He was stationed in Southeast Asia,
where he watched
China during his military career.
So, Colonel Leighton, let's
look at this balloon,
that orange reporting on.
It's the size of three busses
this is enormous, as Orange points out.
China has satellites.
They're watching the United States
all the time.
So what is this thing about?
What is China doing here?
So one of the big things here
that China could be doing with
this is they could be scooping up
signals intelligence.
In other words,
they're looking at our cell phone
traffic, looking at a radio traffic
they're looking at the government's
command and control networks.
And it's or and pointed out
we have a ballistic missile
base, a series of ballistic
missile silos in Montana
and in North Dakota and Wyoming.
So these are the kinds of things
that they could be looking at.
Also,
they're probably looking
at these strategic bomber bases
that we have in the Dakotas.
So this is something that
gives them a chance to perhaps
augment their satellite coverage.
And it's
definitely a system
that could be collecting a lot of data.
So that's what you're saying
is that there is more data
and specific
data signals
intelligence, cell phones
that they wouldn't
be able to get other ways
that they could get from this.
And just to make the point clear,
you're talking about the strategic
strategic bomber bases I'm sorry,
nuclear facilities.
This was seen over Billings, Montana.
And as Warren says,
there's not a lot of people there.
And that's part of the reason why
they are so strategically important
to the United States,
to our nuclear arsenal
and to the strategic bomber base.
I mean, this location is
is hugely significant.
It is.
And, you know,
it's part
of what we call our nuclear triad,
which is made up of bombers,
missiles and submarines.
So two parts of that triad
are right directly
in the path of this Chinese balloon.
So I guess I'm curious
whether you think
they should shoot it down.
I mean, it's just floating there
I mean, it's you know,
this is a real question.
They've decided not to do that for now.
What do you think about that?
And I know you also think
that China may actually be doing this
not just for itself, but for Putin.
Yes.
In fact,
there is a very robust intelligence
sharing the relationship
between China and Russia.
So one of the things that
you have to look at when it comes to
this is what kind of a diplomatic fiasco
it would be if you did shoot it down.
You know,
there's a potential
that it could raise tensions even more
There is a potential, of course, that
if you did shoot it down at sea,
you know, it's already pointed out
there would be the possibility
of the loss of life on the ground.
So these are things
that have to be weighed.
And if they believe
that they can mitigate
the collective efforts
and if they can make them
relatively meaningless
or relatively harmless,
then they usually opt
to let things like this fly over and
and let them assign to a lot of their
to their handlers.
All right.
Thank you very much, Colonel Late.
And I appreciate your time.
You better.