US officials were aware of more 'Chinese spy balloons': Pentagon leaks

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
16 Apr 2023 11:54

The US was aware of at least four balloons in addition to the one shot down in February, as per documents purportedly released by Jack Teixeira.

The suspected Chinese spy balloon drifts to the ocean after being shot down off the coast of the US. (Reuters)

US authorities were aware of up to four suspected Chinese spy balloons beside the one that allegedly sailed over the US mainland and was shot down in February, as per leaked top intelligence.

In an unreported event, one balloon allegedly passed above a US carrier strike group located in the Pacific Ocean.

The details originate from documents that, according to Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts air national guard, were allegedly leaked to The Washington Post.

The South China Sea was allegedly the scene of the other balloon's collapse. According to the leaked material, US officials still had unanswered questions about the Chinese suspected "spy balloon" from February because, more than a week after it was shot down, authorities had yet to identify several of the balloon's sensors and antennas.

According to the Post, the reports don't go into detail about the exact time the balloons were launched.

Teixeira, 21, was detained on Thursday and charged with espionage on suspicion of disclosing multiple top-secret papers on a Discord chatroom.

The recent #Pentagon leaks could be the most damaging release of US government information since the 2013 publication of thousands of documents on #WikiLeaks. pic.twitter.com/vbABFNubRY
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) April 11, 2023

In the invite-only chatroom, a lot of documents were leaked, including verbatim transcripts and secret documents that were photographed and distributed.

Some of the most sensitive leaked details are purportedly related to Ukraine's military capabilities and shortcomings, as well as information about US allies, including the Israeli occupation, South Korea and Turkey.

Leaks related to suspected Chinese balloon

The suspected balloon that was shot down is designated as "Killeen-23" in the documents that were leaked by intelligence officials.

It is unknown if the "Bulger-21" and "Accardo-21" balloons mentioned in the records were the same ones that flew over the US carrier group or crashed into the South China Sea.

The suspected spy balloons were named alphabetically, from A to Z, and after notorious criminals such as mobster Tony Accardo and Donald Killeen, according to an unnamed US intelligence official who spoke to The Washington Post.

Annotated images of Killeen-23 were also included in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) document that was leaked. Analysts claimed that the balloon could produce enough power to run "any" surveillance system, including a radar that could see through clouds and thin material, see at night, and see through clouds and thin material.