on Sunday Elon Musk responded to a U.S fighter jet shooting down a balloon that was thought to be a
Chinese spy balloon that had been flying above U.S territory for several days the
intelligence community in the U.S was astonished by the appearance of the balloon up the coast of
South Carolina because satellite technology is currently used by Nations now to acquire
data according to statements made by American officials on Saturday China was informed of
the shoot down by Washington which described it as a clear infringement of U.S sovereignty but
what exactly happened let's find out more on the video hello everyone welcome back to Elon
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according to the CEO of Twitter Elon Musk he has been envious of the media coverage
the Chinese spy balloon has received I don't get it he said I'm really cool and interesting
and it's just a friggin balloon what exactly does it accomplish simply dumb balloon stuff
probably if the balloon was running Twitter people would be willing to come into the office instead
of working remotely he added oh yeah everybody just loves their precious balloon musk admitted
that the buzz the balloon has generated has him thinking about becoming one himself according to
him only I wouldn't be some boring balloon like that one maybe I'd play music or have flashing
lights like at a rave people would be like Elon is such a freaking cool balloon you'll see
after the U.S shot down an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon near its Coast Elon Musk
posted a meme to Twitter in the meme a flying house from the 2009 animated movie up was shown
being shot down in response to a BBC piece about the U.S shooting an Airship down over the Atlantic
musk tweeted a statement many Twitter users responded to Elon musk's message with further
humorous memes and some even referred to him as a comedian Elon Musk is a better comedian
than most on Saturday Night Live according to one user who said very cheeky of you Elon Musk
in reaction to the Biden administration's Praises for the Pentagon for shooting down an alleged
Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of the U.S on Saturday China reacted strongly expressing
strong discontent and threatening appropriate actions before being brought down by a missile
launch from an F-22 fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina the balloon had been flying
above North America for several days according to Pentagon officials it went down at relatively
shallow water that was only 14 meters deep according to U.S Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
the operation was a planned and legal measure in retaliation for China's unacceptable infringement
of our sovereignty China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the U.S move in a statement
released on Sunday claiming that shooting down the civilian aircraft was obviously overreacting
and significantly breaking International practice China has also claimed that the balloon observed
over Latin America is Chinese and it was upset by Washington's choice to fire down what it believes
to have been a meteorological surveillance aircraft that had gone Haywire last week but
let's dive deeper why the U.S had to shoot the balloon in his State of the Union Address on
Tuesday President Biden only made a passing remark to the Chinese spy balloon that had been spotted
over Montana the previous week and that was mainly to brag about how he was taking on China if he
really means it he should learn from the Cuban Missile Crisis and inform the world about China's
extensive spying operations musk stated despite China's refusal to cooperate with American efforts
to negotiate a solution to the problem China is criticizing the U.S for choosing to shoot the
balloon down the Chinese counterpart of Defense secretary Lloyd Austin would not pick up the phone
this is hardly the way a major power would act if it wanted to improve relations this is especially
true given that China's justification that it was only a weather balloon that got lost near the
Aleutian Islands has fallen apart in the face of scrutiny and factual issues the balloon is a part
of a global Fleet that China has been operating for some years the Pentagon said on Wednesday
there have been reports of such red Zeppelins over at least five continents including nations
in Europe southeast Asia and South America the defense department claims to be certain that this
most recent balloon was sent into the sky in order to gain a close-up view of American strategic
sites possibly including the intercontinental ballistic missile bases in Montana at least four
other balloons according to American officials have been spotted above American territory
recently but astonishingly we weren't aware of them until after the fact the Biden Administration
has claimed that one reason it didn't shoot down the device earlier say as it traversed Alaska's
vast Open Spaces was so that American intelligence might find out more about the balloons functioning
according to press sources American military equipment was present during the balloon's final
float the story is keeping Americans interested and it provides a teaching opportunity about
China's intentions and the vulnerability of the U.S according to Elon Musk the balloon
contained a payload the size of a regional plane according to a statement made earlier this week
by a U.S general possessed the ability to carry electromagnetic Weaponry or detonate when ordered
after claiming for days that the balloon offered no Edge over China's other intelligence techniques
the administration is suddenly leaking to the press that the balloon might Linger on locations
longer than satellites in low earth orbit was it capturing signals that satellites are unable to
it sent real-time data to its China Masters but was that all musk stated the 1962 Cuban Missile
Crisis when American U2 spy planes photographed a massive Soviet nuclear missile build up 90
miles from Florida provides an instructive if less dangerous precedent whether to alert the public or
keep it private was a topic of discussion within the Kennedy administration's top brass the U.S
released photographic evidence of the missiles during a standoff with the Soviets at the U.N
after the White House decided to make the danger visible to the public it influenced public opinion
around the world the debris from the balloon is currently being recovered by Navy divers and the
United States should show it for everybody to see along with Specialists outlining what it
says about what China was up to put everything there not just in the basement of the Pentagon
a public unveiling of the Spy balloon Fleet May worry the administration because it could enrage
Beijing and prevent a more cordial relationship contrarily it's possible that the opposite is
accurate the real concern should be that the incident goes unnoticed and China's warhawks
come to believe that similar provocations carry less risk the Biden followers are undoubtedly
eager to move over the balloon incident but the consequences go beyond their own humiliation
let's expose to the world the reality of China's belief in its ability to act without consequence
meanwhile let's take a closer look at what a spy balloon is the definition of a spy balloon is a
gas-filled balloon that is flying very high in the sky roughly where commercial Jets travel it's
equipped with a number of high-tech cameras and imaging devices and it's pointing the entire array
of gear down at the Earth through photography and other Imaging techniques it is gathering data
about whatever is occurring below it on the ground why would someone choose to utilize a spy balloon
over spy satellites the best way to spy from above is using satellites spy satellites are now
in orbit above us usually in one of two possible configurations the first type of orbit is known
as low earth orbit and as its name implies the satellites in this type are positioned quite near
to the planet however they continue to be hundreds of miles above us when Imaging or taking pictures
being close to something allows you to see it more clearly the same is true when spying satellites in
low earth orbit have the advantage of being closer to the Earth than satellites in higher Earth orbit
so they can see objects more clearly the fact that these satellites are in low earth orbit and are
rotating around the planet is a drawback one orbit of the Earth by them takes roughly 90 minutes that
proves to be fairly quick in terms of getting clear pictures of what's Happening underneath
geosynchronous orbit is the name of the second type of satellite orbit and it is significantly
farther away its drawback is that from a great distance it is difficult to see things well
however they have the benefit of persistence which enables satellites to take pictures continually
because the satellite moves in exactly the same way the Earth moves and rotates at the same Pace
you are practically always overlooking the same area of the Earth's surface when you are in those
orbits in some ways a balloon surpasses those these balloons can see even more clearly since
they are much much closer to the ground than any satellites are likewise balloons have a certain
amount of persistence because they are moving albeit rather slowly however since balloons
are a pretty simple Target and are not entirely under control spying is not typically conducted
with them these days what kinds of surveillance can be carried out with spy balloons although we
don't know what's aboard this particular spy balloon it's probably a variety of cameras
Gathering data of various kinds today Imaging is done using various parts of the electromagnetic
spectrum in a certain region of this spectrum the visible spectrum humans can see therefore
a visible photograph of your dog is one that you can see if you have a camera and snap a picture
of it that is one of the things that spy planes do even though they have excellent zoom capabilities
and may greatly magnify what they are seeing they nevertheless capture ordinary images however there
are other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum where you can gather other kinds of data infrared
is one that is also quite well known a visible light camera won't be able to provide you with any
images at night because it is Pitch Black it'll be pitch black everywhere however an infrared camera
has the ability to detect objects from heat in the dark how do these balloons find their way
as a rule most of these balloons follow the wind there may be a small amount of navigating but
individuals are never present whatever the weather may be it is out of their control
occasionally they are equipped with guidance devices that can alter a balloon's altitude
in order to catch winds blowing in a certain direction Chinese surveillance balloon reportedly
featured propellers to help it maneuver according to allegations from U.S authorities if this is
shown to be true the operator of the balloon would have far more control over its course what are the
boundaries of a country's airspace when does it become space and when does anyone have a right
to be there the Carmen line which is 62 miles in altitude is a recognized border this balloon is
significantly lower than that thus it is without a doubt within American airspace which nations are
reputed to use surveillance balloons over the past few decades the Pentagon has run studies
to examine what uses of balloons are possible that weren't previously possible they might
be more difficult to shoot down or incapacitate because they are larger or can fly higher in the
atmosphere they could possibly be more tenacious the fact that this episode has garnered so much
attention shows how unique it is nowadays few people would anticipate Any Nation utilizing
Espionage balloons in any significant capacity in the 1940s and 1950s the U.S frequently flew
balloons over the Soviet Union they were soon replaced by high altitude Espionage planes or
u-2s and they were later replaced by satellites there are undoubtedly numerous Nations all over
the world that have regularly looked back to assess if there are any new uses for balloons
that weren't previously possible do they fill in any holes left over from satellites and aircraft
what does that reveal about the characteristics of this balloon whose ownership China has confirmed
China has long complained that the U.S secretly spies on it via satellites and ships furthermore
China is well recognized for acting in rather aggressive ways such as saber rattling sailing too
closely to other countries borders and displaying aggression in the South China Sea musk believes
it belongs in that group the balloon does not actually threaten the U.S China May perhaps just
be experimenting to see how far they can take things musk says really this isn't very Cutting
Edge tech there isn't really a military benefit to it it's much more likely to have a political
message musk finally stated on the other hand after U.S soldiers shot down a purported Chinese
spy balloon Japan announced on Thursday that it was working with Washington to study suspicious
aerial objects that had been seen over the nation in the past Chief government spokesperson Hiro
Kazu matsuno told reporters on Thursday we are speaking with the United States but we hesitate to
comment on diplomatic conversations having stated that we are investigating objects seen over Japan
between June 2020 and September 2021 for any connections to the case in the U.S in June 2020
a mysterious balloon-like aircraft was cited over Northern Japan local shared photos on social media
the thing which appeared to be made out of a balloon tied to crossed rods with propellers in
close-up pictures by residents and journalists confused authorities at the time who declared
that they were surprised by it the balloon appeared to be a weather monitoring Gadget
but the meteorological agency claimed it was not their equipment at the time the government denied
claims that it could be owned by a foreign power but the recent uproar over a purported Chinese
surveillance balloon that was shot down after flying over the U.S has forced a re-evaluation
further information provided by matsuno included the fact that the government has detected similar
balloons whose connection are unknown including one in January 2022 above the water west of Kyushu
he declared we continue to make the greatest efforts to gather and analyze information in
concert with our Ally the airspace over Japan was under 24 hour 365-day observation according to the
Japanese defense Ministry earlier this week however it chose not to confirm reports that
balloons similar to the one that American forces shot down had been seen over Japan
we issued the required announcements when we confirm an instance of airspace invasion in answer
to a query the ministry stated we have never confirmed or made a notice regarding any airspace
violation by balloons and just breaking the news according to numerous reports on Thursday the
Chinese balloon that crossed the country last week before being shot down over the Atlantic Ocean
contained both antennas to gather Communications and solar panels to fuel its sensors a state
department official was quoted in the media as saying that the balloon could gather communication
signals and was a component of a large-scale Chinese military effort to conduct Espionage on
more than 40 Nations across five continents the official told the Washington Post we know these
balloons are all a part of a fleet of balloons produced by the People's Republic of China to
perform surveillance activities the official said that the balloon had intelligence capabilities
much Beyond those of a weather balloon as demonstrated by the high resolution photographs
that American U2 spy planes captured while it was still in the sky according to the official the
balloon's numerous antennas were certainly capable of collecting NGO locating Communications the news
was also covered by CNN the New York Times And The Wall Street Journal according to outlets a
representative claims that the solar panels were sufficiently large to generate the energy required
to run several intelligence gathering sensors however in a statement released on Wednesday
President Biden said he did not anticipate any bad repercussions from the U.S shooting down a
Chinese surveillance balloon Biden categorically denied that there has been a deterioration in ties
when asked about it in an appearance with PBS NewsHour since it was discovered that a Chinese
balloon was flying over the U.S and was later shot down over the weekend Biden claimed he had
not spoken to Chinese president Xi Jinping the president continued by saying that his
Chinese counterpart faces enormous issues at home including a struggling economy and concerns over
whether China is aiding Russia in its invasion of Ukraine China responded on Wednesday claiming that
it had been maligned in the speech and that it is against defining the entire china-u.s
competition between the two parties Republicans have criticized Biden for allowing the balloon to
go over a large portion of the country last week before the military finally shot it down close to
the South Carolina coast in order to prevent any debris from causing damage to property
or endangering people Biden has made it plain and restated on Wednesday that he wanted to wait until
it was safe to to fire down the balloon and that ends today's episode what do you think of this
episode let us know your thoughts in the comment box below please subscribe and don't forget to
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