Many readers have probably heard about the ‘Spy Balloon’ that recently flew over the northwest United States. Military officials considered shooting it down, but decided debris would cause too much risk. Some reports said the balloon was ‘as large as three buses’, so fear of potential damage due falling debris deterred drastic action. The U.S. military shot down what officials called a Chinese surveillance balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4, 2023. The next day, Chinese officials acknowledged that the balloon was theirs, but denied it was intended for spying or meant to enter U.S. airspace.

The Pentagon has reported that a second suspected Chinese balloon was seen over Latin America. On Feb. 4, officials told reporters that a third Chinese surveillance balloon was operating somewhere else in the world, and that the balloons are part of a Chinese military surveillance program.

According to PBS, a spy balloon is literally a gas-filled balloon that is flying quite high in the sky, more or less where we fly commercial airplanes. It has some sophisticated cameras and imaging technology on it, and it’s pointing all of those instruments down at the ground. It’s collecting information through photography and other imaging of whatever is going on down on the ground below it.

Why does this matter? The revelation came just days before US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was planning to visit Beijing, which he then postponed. A report said that Blinken was also expected to meet President Xi Jinping, making him the first in his role to do so.