China Balloon Gathered Intel on US Military Sites

The Chinese balloon which traveled across the United States was able to gather intelligence from several U.S. military sites and transmit it back to Beijing in real time before being shot down on Feb 4 of this year according to NBC News on Monday. The high-altitude balloon, controlled by China, was able to make multiple passes over some of the sites before it was shot down, flying in a figure-eight formation, according to two current senior U.S. officials and one former senior administration official. It transmitted the information it collected back to Beijing in real time three officials said, according to NBC.

"The intelligence China collected was mostly from electronic signals, which can be picked up from weapons systems or include communications from base personnel, rather than images," NBC cited the officials as saying.

As you may recall, at the time, officials played down the balloon's impact on national security. Read more: NBC: China Balloon Gathered Intel on US Military Sites | Newsmax.com