According to The New York Times, of the 366 similar unexplained incidents since 2021, 163 were later identified as balloons, a classified report in January found. The American military is certainly capable of popping the balloon and capturing its contents. If the military isn’t, then the Pentagon has far bigger problems than foreign surveillance, considering the United States captured objects in mid-air during the Cold War in the 1950s.
U.S. Strategic Air Command flew reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union in 1956 with an operation known as the “Genetrix” program. Balloons drifted across the continent with the winter jet stream and were cut free from their balloons once outside Soviet airspace. The gondolas hanging from their parachutes were collected in mid-air by specially equipped planes. The Pentagon is unable to do the same thing today?
[Perhaps we already know what’s on these aerial devices and see more deterrent value in shooting them down rather than inspecting them. However, the sudden decision to suddenly play Space Invaders now after getting embarrassed by China’s spy balloon this month makes the question worth asking. Why shoot these down if we can capture them — and why didn’t we shoot them down before now? — Ed]
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