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Eyes aloft.

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Eyes aloft.

The strange and unpersuasive narrative on the Chinese spy balloon.

Joshua Treviño
Feb 3
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Eyes aloft.

www.armas.co
Listening in.

The revelation of the Chinese spy balloon presently over Montana has spurred a strange flurry of, well, related revelations. For example, this isn’t the first of its kind over the continental United States. 

Twitter avatar for @laraseligman
Lara Seligman @laraseligman
This is not the first time DoD has detected a balloon of this nature over the continental United States
10:31 PM ∙ Feb 2, 2023
131Likes34Retweets
Twitter avatar for @LeeHudson_
Lee Hudson @LeeHudson_
This is not the first time a surveillance balloon has come into domestic airspace. It is appearing to "hangout for a longer period" than in previous instances, the senior defense official said.
10:24 PM ∙ Feb 2, 2023
290Likes48Retweets

It isn’t the first of its kind over other parts of the United States, either. 

Twitter avatar for @adegrandpre
Andrew deGrandpré @adegrandpre
The latest --> A U.S. intelligence official tells the @washingtonpost that similar balloons have been spotted previously over Hawaii & Guam. Via @DanLamothe @AlexHortonTX + @John_Hudson @yabutaleb7 & @shaneharris
washingtonpost.comChinese spy balloon flying over U.S. ‘right now,’ Pentagon saysThe discovery, just days before Secretary of State Antony Blinken is due to visit Beijing, prompted discussion of whether to shoot down the surveillance system.
2:08 AM ∙ Feb 3, 2023
113Likes73Retweets

It seems fairly clear that this is a known PRC surveillance platform, witnessed many times within American airspace. It is a matter of public attention now only because it was spotted over Montana by civilian observers, and was obviously something unusual. 

Twitter avatar for @WarMonitors
War Monitor @WarMonitors
⚡️⚡️Chinese spy balloon over Montana, United States — KSVI-TV
Image
11:13 PM ∙ Feb 2, 2023
1,401Likes264Retweets

Several elements of the narrative here don’t quite add up.

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