A handful of Trump-era Pentagon officials reportedly tracked a series of mysterious objects now suspected to be Chinese balloons, though it was not reported to the White House at the time.
Following the military’s shooting down of a Chinese spy balloon on Feb. 4, Biden administration officials revealed that there had been three similar instances under the Trump administration, albeit each lasted above U.S. airspace for a shorter period of time.
BIDEN SAYS NO EVIDENCE OF 'SUDDEN INCREASE' OF AERIAL OBJECTS IN US AIRSPACE
Trump-era Pentagon officials quickly rejected the claim, though Biden officials said they only figured it out once they came into office. But, it turns out that some within the Pentagon during the Trump administration knew of the incidents, believing China was using them over Navy sites in Coronado, California, Norfolk, Virginia, and Guam. But the assessment, made in the summer of 2020, “never got to be assertive” in concluding China’s responsibility, according to the Wall Street Journal.
U.S. military and intelligence officials began tracking the balloon as it lifted off from Hainan Island, which is near China’s south coast, according to the Washington Post.
It was expected to travel over the U.S. territory of Guam, but it took an unexpected turn north and eventually entered U.S. airspace over Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, then traveled over Canada before reentering U.S. airspace and traveling across the country until the military shot it down on Feb 4.
The Biden administration recently briefed a number of Trump administration officials who denied any knowledge of the previous instances. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe, and former national security adviser Robert O’Brien were jointly briefed on Wednesday about China’s high-altitude surveillance program and the previous incidents, according to NBC News, while former national security adviser John Bolton was briefed separately.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The military concluded its recovery efforts on Thursday for the downed Chinese surveillance balloon that was shot down earlier this month.
The Alaskan Region of North American Aerospace Defense Command announced on Friday that its recovery efforts concluded the day prior and that the "final pieces of debris are being transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory in Virginia for counterintelligence exploitation, as has occurred with the previous surface and subsurface debris recovered."