Q&A of the Day – The Big Picture Behind the Chinese Spy Balloons
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station’s page in the iHeart app.
Today’s Entry: Submitted via Talkback regarding the Chinese Spy Balloon.
Bottom Line: Well, actually, I don’t think it’s an obvious question at all. At least in the context with which you presented it. I’m happy to thoroughly address this topic based on known information about what’s happened and that potentially has been playing out for years with worldwide Chinese spy operations. Before diving into the facts however, given your apparent skepticism that there was really something to be gained by the Chinese, ask yourself this. Why would they fly a spy balloon all of the way from China to the United States and clear across the country? Because they’re bored? What is obvious is that there’s a purpose behind this Chinese program. The question is only what that is. Some have hypothesized that it’s political posturing by the Chinese government – showing that we’re so weak and fearful of China that we won’t even defend our own airspace. Others have suggested they were capturing intel which could only be obtained by flying that spy balloon. On Wednesday, House leadership was provided with a classified briefing on the balloon program and yesterday, the Senate was provided with a classified briefing on the balloon program as well. That’s another tell. If there was less to the story than meets the eye, why would briefings be classified? So, let's unpack this thing...
One of the early debates this week was about whether the Chinese Spy balloon program had actually been in operation for years. Reports suggested three separate Chinese spy balloons had been flown into US airspace during the Trump administration. This was immediately rejected by former President Trump who made clear that he’d have shot them down. However, earlier this week Florida Congressman, Green Beret and incidentally, an active Army Colonel, Mike Waltz, came on the show and told us that he’d been briefed just the day before that in fact the balloons had flown into US airspace under the Trump administration. Waltz is not the kind of guy who’d say that to attempt to make Trump look bad. So, what’s real there? Unclassified Department of Defense documents show three separate incidents between 2017 and 2021 which were officially documented as UFO sightings. No kidding. That’s because the craft (balloons) used hadn’t yet been identified by our government. That would explain why President Trump wouldn’t have been altered to the situation. There are numerous, regular, UFO sightings picked up by the federal government. Without additional context it wouldn’t have been viewed as a big deal internally at time.
You’ll likely recall the May 2021 creation of the UAP task force created by the Department of Defense. Most Americans viewed the creation of that task force as something related to potential disclosure of UFOs in the context that might point towards life from other planets visiting us. It’s now become clear the real intent of that task force was a need to get a better handle on spy craft, specifically from China. As it turns out there had become regular UFO sightings reported by US Naval forces around the world. In early 2021, the Department of Defense discovered a Chinese spy surveillance program which was largely comprised of balloons a la the one which we just experienced. After that discovery – many of the Naval UFO sightings were reclassified as being Chinese spy balloons. It’s likely the public hearings with the UAP task force were largely misdirection efforts to both the public and the Chinese as an explanation as to why the task force was created. Sorry to break the news for those expecting real disclosure to occur... So now to what may be gained through the spy balloon process.
Another Florida Congressman and military man, retired Bomb Technician Brian Mast told us this week what the distinction in information would be with the flying of the balloon as opposed to satellite technology. As Mast explained, there’s an enormous difference in the ability to see from a satellite that’s in space, as opposed to only about 60,000 feet off the ground with a camera of equal quality. That’s easy to understand. All you need to do is to go to Google Earth and search for your address. You’ll have an idea of just how much detail is missed by satellites if you do. So, in addressing your question, which posed as rhetorical, yes, I have no doubt that they had something to gain from this. Specifically, because of where they first went when entering the continental United States - directly over Malmstrom Airforce Base, which is one of the three most important military installations in the country as it houses one of three caches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. As I mentioned earlier in the week, it was deemed so serious an emergency meeting in the Pentagon was called and the Billings Montana airport was closed. Would you think that would happen because nothing of significance was happening with that balloon? And that takes me back to your broader point about what they’ve already infiltrated in society.
Yes, just based on those we know, Chinese spies posing as students have been arrested at Naval Air Station Key West, in addition to attempting to infiltrate Mar-a-Lago when Trump was president. Note, btw that close pictures of a military installation were important to the Chinese government – which further buttresses my earlier points. It’s also likely there are spies in places we don’t currently know. But no, it’s highly unlikely they’d have infiltrated one of the most controlled military installations in the world in Malmstrom. In operating on assumptions, I’d point you back to the saying about people who assume. I don’t know what I don’t know which is considerable about this situation, however what I do know, and have illustrated strongly suggests these operations aren’t just for drill.