In the administration of former President Donald Trump, at least three Chinese balloons were detected crossing the country, officials acknowledged at a press conference.
The devices were initially classified by intelligence officials as “unidentified aerial phenomena” before being named balloons.
Days after a Chinese balloon was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean, Pentagon officials acknowledged that such “surveillance devices” had been seen hovering over the United States before.
In July 2022, the Department of Defense established the All Domains Anomaly Resolution Office to identify “unidentified anomalous phenomena” (in space, air, land, or sea) that may threaten national security. The term Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) replaces the traditional Unidentified Flying Object (UFO).
The United States shot down a balloon on Saturday that authorities say was a Chinese surveillance device. The balloon had been seen hovering over the United States and parts of Canada.
China maintains that it was a civilian object “used for research purposes, primarily meteorological,” but Pentagon officials say it was “being used by the People’s Republic of China in an attempt to monitor strategic sites in the continental United States.”
Donald Trump, however, has denied that balloons ever existed. In an interview with Fox News, he said the Biden administration lied about the Chinese balloons seen during his tenure because they “look so bad.”
The Biden administration indicated that intelligence about the Trump-era balloons came to light after he left office and has extended an offer to put the newly available information in the hands of the former president.
