Chinese spy balloon collected intelligence info from sensitive US military sites media: Report
Washington, Apr 3: A Chinese spy balloon that flew across the US earlier this year was able to gather intelligence from several sensitive American military sites and transmit it back to Beijing in real-time, despite the Biden administration's efforts to block it, a media report said on Monday.
A suspected Chinese spy balloon said to be the size of three buses, was spotted over the airspace of the United States in late January.
China was able to control the balloon so it could make multiple passes over some of the sites (at times flying figure-eight formations) and transmit the information it collected back to Beijing in real-time, NBC News reported, quoting three unnamed officials.
The intelligence China collected was mostly from electronic signals, which can be picked up from weapons systems or include communications from base personnel, rather than images, the officials were quoted as saying in the report.
The three officials said China could have gathered much more intelligence from sensitive sites if not for the Biden administration's efforts to move around potential targets and obscure the balloon's ability to pick up their electronic signals by stopping them from broadcasting signals, the report said.
The White House and the Defence Department did not respond to the breaking news, except for referring to its previous comments that the balloon had "limited additive value" for intelligence collection by the Chinese government "over and above what [China] is likely able to collect through things like satellites in low earth orbit".
The balloon first entered US airspace from Alaska on January 28, according to the Biden administration.
Over the next four days, it was flying over the Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, where the US has some of its nuclear assets.
The development further strained the already tense bilateral ties between the US and China, with the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly postponing his key visit to Beijing in February this year.
The US National Security Council has referred NBC News to the Defence Department for comment.
In its response, Beijing maintained that the balloon was a Chinese "civilian airship" which had deviated from its planned route.
"The airship is from China. It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological purposes," the spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement posted on the Chinese foreign ministry's website.
On February 4, the US shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina.
"This afternoon, at the direction of President Biden, US fighter aircraft assigned to US Northern Command successfully brought down the high altitude surveillance balloon launched by and belonging to the People's Republic of China over the water off the coast of South Carolina in US airspace," Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin had said.
US officials said they tried to reconstruct the balloon from the debris recovered.
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Leopard spotted near Kadri Manjunath Temple in Mangaluru
Mangaluru: A leopard was spotted in Doctors’ Colony near the Kadri Manjunath Temple area in Mangaluru in the early hours of Monday, February 23, creating anxiety among residents of the locality.
According to local residents, the animal was spotted in the CCTV footage of two cameras installed in the locality around 1 am near the entrance gate of Doctors’ Colony. The footage shows the leopard walking calmly in front of the gate before moving out of view.
The sighting has come as a surprise as the area is largely urbanised, with apartment complexes and villa-type houses dominating the surroundings. Except for a small patch of forested land above the Kadri temple area, there is little greenery nearby. Residents say the concrete landscape offers limited scope for wild animals to find food.
This is not the first time wild animals have been spotted in the locality. Two years ago, a wild gaur had entered the same area and was later guided back into the forest through Shaktinagar. Just last week, a smaller leopard was sighted in Shaktinagar and was also captured on CCTV cameras. Now, a bigger leopard has been recorded near Kadri.
So far, no one has reported a direct sighting of the animal, and no formal complaint has been lodged with the Forest Department.
Forest Department officials said leopard movement is common during the months of January and February, as the animals often enter human settlements in search of food. In areas near forests, they usually prey on poultry and stray dogs.
Officials added that leopards are capable of travelling 15 to 20 kilometres in a single night and generally do not remain in one place if they are unable to find food. While sightings are more common in forest-fringe areas such as Bajpe and Neermarga, repeated appearances within core city limits this time have caused concern among residents.
