On January 28th, a massive balloon flying 60,000 feet in the air was spotted over the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. The balloon continued on its path eastward and crossed into Canada. By February 1st, this balloon was spotted in Montana. Based on its length, the balloon is about the size of three school buses. Finally, on February 4th, it found its way past North Carolina and crossed into the Atlantic Ocean, where a fighter aircraft took it out. The aircraft that took the balloon down was an F-22 that fired a missile at the balloon about seven miles off the coast of South Carolina.

The balloon came from China, which claims that this giant balloon was a civilian unmanned airship. While they could be telling the truth, the United States Federal Government did not take this matter lightly, as they broke international law and compromised U.S. airspace. People speculated what might’ve taken the U.S Government so long to take it out. It was revealed that they had to wait for the aircraft to travel over water since the debris could have damaged property or hurt citizens living below. Coincidentally enough, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled for a trip to Beijing. Upon hearing the news, however, Blinken canceled the trip. This raised tension between the two parties for their meeting.

Speculations rose that the balloon was originally meant to be a spy balloon that was collecting data but China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson strongly emphasized that the balloon’s flight path was accidental and that there was no harm meant. They claim that the balloon was used for meteorological purposes. 

Many believe that China could possibly be trying to spy on our military bases and test sites hoping that the U.S. would not notice. The balloon could also be an attempt by China to show that the U.S. is not perfect and that there are also weak spots. Now that the balloon has been taken down, however, there is still no news on whether or not we have recovered the balloon and the contents that were inside it.