The Alleged Chinese Spy Balloon that went Viral

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/09/china-spy-balloon-sought-us-communications-state-department/11219163002/

    I have an unhealthy obsession with this alleged Chinese spy balloon. I know it’s already been obliterated, but at the same time the story in itself is somewhat hilarious. For those of you who don’t know, a balloon from China was spotted in the United States, in the state of Montana. China claims that it was a special balloon used for meteorology that just “flew off course”. With tensions growing between the two countries, American citizens were skeptical and they begged the government to destroy this balloon. Initially the military and the president advocated against it. Their reasons being, that the leftover debris would harm the environment and monitoring the balloon in case the Chinese government was telling the truth. For almost a week this balloon soared across the U.S. until their government finally decided to shoot it down because they discovered the balloon was gathering private information. Shortly after, they gathered the landing debris. Since then, the relationship between China and the United States has become more strained. Rumors of war are starting to emerge once again. I’m aware of your possible concerns as to why this story is fascinating to me. I personally find this story amusing simply because of the fact a balloon of all things was used to apparently do spy work. In the time we are living in there are advanced technologies that can be used as spy devices. So why a balloon? It’s just a weird choice if you ask me. Especially with how big it was. It was visible to the naked eye so it definitely wasn’t a discreet option if they were gathering information. Another reason why it’s hilarious is because it flew all the way across the U.S. before it was shot down. In other words, it most likely got all the information they needed anyways. While I understand they needed to monitor it first in case China’s claim was true, this thing flew over the pentagon. It wasn’t until Hours later when the government finally struck it down. If it were up to me I would have ordered it to be shot down if that balloon was roughly ten miles away from the pentagon, heading in that direction. Because knowing the purpose of the pentagon would immediately raise my suspicion. If a floating object was from a country that has tense relations with the nation just so happened to fly close to government bases, I think I have every right to be concerned and try to protect my citizens. Overall, it’s been almost a full week since the ballon was popped and I still am thinking about it and laughing. I’m still waiting for people to make more memes about it. If not, I’ll make one myself. Rest In Peace balloon, you made my week.