Tag Archives: United States

Honolulu’s NBC affiliate reports: Astronomers say a Chinese satellite has been caught on video beaming down green lasers over the Hawaiian Islands. A National Astronomical Observatory of Japan livestream camera atop the Subaru Telescope on Mauna Kea recorded the footage in late January. The lasers flashed for just a couple of seconds and were initially thought to be from a …

Bloomberg News reports: US balloons illegally flew over China more than 10 times since the beginning of 2022, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin. “It is nothing rare for US balloons to illegally enter other country’s airspace,” Wang told reporters at a regular briefing in Beijing on Monday. “The US needs to reflect upon itself and change its wrong …

Reuters reports: The U.S. Air Force general overseeing North American airspace said on Sunday after a series of shoot-downs of unidentified objects that he would not rule out aliens or any other explanation yet, deferring to U.S. intelligence experts. Asked whether he had ruled out an extraterrestrial origin for three airborne objects shot down by U.S. warplanes in as many …

The CBC reports: The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is monitoring another “high-altitude airborne object” over northern Canada, the organization confirmed Saturday. “Military aircraft are currently operating from Alaska and Canada in support of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) activities. “NORAD confirms that we have positively identified a high-altitude airborne object over Northern Canada,” a spokesperson for the …

Reuters reports: The Biden administration on Friday added six Chinese entities connected to Beijing’s suspected surveillance balloon program to an export blacklist. The new restrictions come after the White House said it would consider broader efforts to “expose and address” China’s larger surveillance activities that threaten U.S. national security and allies. The Commerce Department said the five companies and one …

The New York Times reports: The Pentagon downed an unidentified object over Alaska on Thursday night at the order of President Biden, according to a U.S. official. The U.S. official said it was not confirmed if the object was a balloon, but it was traveling at an altitude that made it a potential threat to civilian aircraft. Mr. Biden ordered …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Chinese balloon that crossed the U.S. was outfitted with antennas likely capable of collecting communications, a senior State Department official said Thursday, adding that the Biden administration is preparing to take action against China’s surveillance program. Providing details the U.S. has gathered since tracking and shooting down the balloon, the official said the balloon …

Bloomberg News reports: The US sent divers to salvage what they believe is spy equipment from the Chinese balloon shot down off South Carolina, as pressure mounted on President Joe Biden to hit back at Beijing with new export controls on sensitive technology. The government anticipates finding equipment capable of taking detailed photographs, along with other sensors, one person familiar …

The Hill reports: Vice Foreign Minister Xie Feng said he formally complained to the U.S. Embassy on Sunday over what he called a “U.S. attack on a Chinese civilian unmanned airship by military force.” China has insisted that the aircraft was a civilian weather balloon blown unintentionally off-course. “However, the United States turned a deaf ear and insisted on indiscriminate …

The South China Morning Post reports: Beijing slammed Washington’s decision to shoot down a Chinese balloon, saying it was an overreaction and China reserved the right to take “further responses that are necessary”. “China strongly disapproves of and protests against the US attack on a civilian unmanned airship by force,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement …

CNN reports: The US military has downed the suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, a US official says. The balloon was first spotted in the sky over Montana earlier this week and traveled across the middle of the country following weather patterns before it exited the continental United States on Saturday. Prior to the balloon being shot down, …

The Associated Press reports: The Biden administration is considering a plan to shoot down a large Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance on the U.S. military, by bringing it down once it is above the Atlantic Ocean where the remnants could potentially be recovered, according to four U.S. officials. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss …

From the spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry: Regarding the unintended entry of a Chinese unmanned airship into US airspace due to force majeure, the Chinese side has verified it and communicated it to the US side. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far …

The Associated Press reports: China said Friday it was looking into reports that a Chinese spy balloon has been flying in U.S. airspace over sensitive sites — a discovery that further strained already tense relations between Beijing and Washington. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China has “no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country” and …

CNN reports: The Pentagon is tracking a suspected Chinese high-altitude surveillance balloon over the continental United States, a senior defense official said on Thursday. The Pentagon has been tracking the balloon for several days as it made its way over the northern United States, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said. He added that the US military decided against shooting …

The Associated Press reports: The United States and the Philippines on Thursday announced plans to expand America’s military presence in the Southeast Asian nation, with access to four more bases as they seek to deter China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea. The agreement was reached as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in …

Reuters reports: Germany announced plans on Wednesday to deliver heavy tanks to Ukraine, and the United States was poised to do so too, a breakthrough hailed as a decisive military boost by Kyiv and condemned by Moscow as a reckless provocation. Kyiv has been calling for months for Western main battle tanks that would give its forces greater firepower, protection …

Reuters reports: The United States has not received any official requests from the Brazilian government regarding the status of former President Jair Bolsonaro after his supporters stormed Brazil’s Congress, the White House said on Monday. National security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters it appeared that democratic institutions in Brazil were holding. He said U.S. officials are not in direct contact …

Reuters reports: The United States has resumed full immigrant visa services at its embassy in Cuba’s capital, five years after Washington closed consular services in Havana due to a spate of unexplained health incidents. In a statement last week, the embassy confirmed that it would begin processing immigrant visas on Wednesday, including permits for Cubans reuniting with family in the …

From the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Public Affairs office: On Dec. 21 (China Standard Time), a People’s Liberation Army – Navy J-11 fighter pilot performed an unsafe maneuver during an intercept of a U.S. Air Force RC-135 aircraft, which was lawfully conducting routine operations over the South China Sea in international airspace. The PLAN pilot flew an unsafe maneuver by flying …