Look up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s ۰۰۰ “Unidentified Aerial Phenomena”.

It has been quite a month over the skies of North America. Between February 4 and February 12, a high-altitude Chinese balloon and three other unidentified flying objects were shot out of the sky by U.S. fighter jets. Are we under attack by some foreign power, or an alien race from outer space? Or has the Air Force just gotten a little trigger happy? 

This series of incidents created quite a stir across the country, and seemed to catch the military by surprise. The Biden Administration was certainly caught off guard, causing it to overreact in the face of public and political criticism. What do we know about the flying objects that the air force shot down, and is this something else we need to add to our long list of things to worry about?
​
Here is what we know about the unidentified flying objects, now referred to as unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) by the government, shot down by the U.S. military in recent days:

Chinese Spy Balloon: The U.S. government has known about the existence of the Chinese military’s spy balloon program since 2020. The Chinese have sent spy balloons over more than 40 countries on five continents. The spy balloons augment the more than 260 intelligence satellites that the Chinese have in orbit.

The U.S. began tracking the now infamous spy balloon in late January when it was launched from Hainan Island in southern China. Based on the trajectory of the balloon, U.S. officials believe that its mission was to conduct surveillance of U.S. military bases in Guam and Hawaii. Winds blew the balloon off course and it entered Alaskan airspace on January 28. The balloon traveled over Canada and the U.S. mainland before it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina on February 4.
​
The Chinese balloon was flying at an altitude of approximately 60,000 feet, and therefore presented no hazard to commercial airliners, according to the Pentagon. Deflecting criticism for allowing the balloon to linger in U.S. airspace for several days, Pentagon officials claimed that the balloon posed no threat, and allowed the military to collect intelligence about the balloon and take high-resolution images of its equipment. The military also claimed to have locked down non-encrypted communications coming from military bases in the balloon’s flight path.

The Navy, Coast Guard, and FBI have finished recovering all the debris from the downed balloon from the ocean off of South Carolina. The debris was taken to the FBI lab in Virginia for analysis. The recovered electronics and optical equipment reinforced the military’s conclusion that the object was in fact a Chinese spy balloon.
​
To this day, Chinese officials insist that the balloon was a civilian device used for weather research that had simply drifted off course. If you believe that, you believe that Putin invaded Ukraine to rid it of Nazis.

​Three More Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) Shot Down:

• February 10: A UAP was shot down over the Artic Ocean near Alaska by a U.S. fighter jet. The object was about the size of a small car, travelling at an altitude of about 40,000 feet. But according to the military it was most likely not a balloon. Due to the extremely harsh weather conditions and remoteness of the area, the search to recover the debris was cancelled.
• February 11: In coordination with the Canadian government, another UAP was shot down by a U.S. fighter jet over the Yukon Territory of Canada. The object was first picked up on radar the previous day as it flew over Alaska. This object was cylindrical in shape and much smaller than a weather balloon. The search to recover the debris of this object was also cancelled due to the remoteness of the area and adverse weather conditions.
• February 12: Another UAP was shot down over Lake Huron near Michigan. This object was first spotted the previous day flying over Montana at an altitude of about 20,000 feet. It had an octagonal structure with strings hanging off of it, but had no discernable payload. A second missile was required to shoot down the object after the first one missed. There was no attempt by either the Canadian or U.S. governments to recover the debris from Lake Huron.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Was the threat posed by these UAPs enough to use Sidewinder missiles at a cost of $400,000 each? Probably not!

What’s Going on in the Skies Above Us?  Due to the lack of debris recovered from the three UAPs recently shot down, we will never know preciously what they were or where they came from. What we do know is that none of the three objects were emitting signals of any kind. They were traveling at low speed at an altitude of 20,000 feet to 40,000 feet, within the range of transcontinental air traffic. The claim by the military that the UAPs posed a danger to air traffic lanes provided cover for its actions. 
​
The current thinking from the military and intelligence community is that the UAPs were most likely balloons, or similar devices owned by private companies, research groups, or recreational clubs studying weather or conducting research. The military has known for many years that there is a large amount of airborne trash floating around at high altitudes, in addition to objects participating in active scientific research, like weather balloons.

​In response to the incursion into U.S. airspace by the Chinese spy balloon, the military radar systems monitoring the American and Canadian airspace have been adjusted to make them more sensitive to slower moving objects. The result is that our radar systems are spotting many more objects that would have previously been missed. So, if I were you, I would put off scheduling any hot air balloon trips until the military has its radar systems fully dialed in.

The Real Significance of Recent UAP Events: The shooting down of four UAPs by the military earlier this month revealed its shortcomings in monitoring America’s airspace. But this will be corrected with time. The real threat to our country isn’t from little green men in flying saucers, or from other UPAs. The real threat comes from frayed relations with China.
​
Recent events have revealed just how strained the relations between the U.S. and China really are.  The Chinese spy balloon incident further strained relations between our two countries. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a scheduled trip to Beijing where he was expected to meet with President Xi Jinping.  China’s defense chief refused to take a call from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss the spy balloon incident. The U.S. Commerce Department announced plans to ban trade with several Chinese companies with ties to the Chinese military. In response, Chinese officials have stated that they will take “counter measures” against “relevant American entities”. 

The heightened tensions between the U.S. and China should come as no real surprise in light of recent actions taken by the Biden Administration. These include increased U.S. military access to bases in the Philippines, a new military technology agreement with India, restrictions on sales of advanced computer chips to China, and the development of new security agreements with Australia and Britain. When you include Japan’s announcement that it will increase military spending and America’s commitment to Taiwan, it’s not surprising that China feels more isolated and is acting more aggressively with its spy balloon program.

The last thing that the world needs is for the two superpowers to enter into a cold war. Fortunately, U.S. and Chinese diplomats have begun to talk again in recent days. Secretary Blinken met last weekend with the Director of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Affairs Office at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.
​
For the sake of our two countries, and indeed the world, let’s hope that the channels of communication can open and tensions cool. It is better to fix any problems now when the threat from China involves spy balloons. When the problems escalate to nuclear weapons, it may be too late. 

 If you enjoy reading this type of commentary please subscribe to my blog and tell a friend. You will receive an email notification when new blogs are posted. The email will come from the site’s email: armchairamerican1776 @gmail.com.
​
Thanks,
Armchair American