The Chinese spy balloon that flew over the United States in January managed to gather intelligence from several sensitive military sites before it was shot down. This according to information to NBC News. – For the United States, this is very serious, says intelligence expert Carolina Angelis, who worked for over 20 years in the Swedish intelligence service. American NBC has been in contact with “two current senior officials” and a former official in the Biden administration, who state that the spy balloon flew over several military installations. The information must have been transmitted to Chinese authorities in real time. China has always maintained that the balloon was part of a research project gathering weather information. – It was never very likely that it would have been about that. What is surprising about the new data is that China has been so aggressive, after all it is the USA that they are targeting. It is also done in a way that makes it very easy to detect, says Carolina Angelis, security advisor at the cyber security company Truesec with previous experience at the Defense Radio Agency FRA and the military intelligence and security service, MUST. Expert: “The damage has already been done” According to NBC’s data, the balloon must have managed to collect electronic signals that can be picked up by weapon systems and communication between ground personnel. This despite several attempts by the Biden administration to stop the acquisition. – The damage has already been done because the information was transferred directly. This balloon has been moving across the country for days, over military bases not just once, but several times, because it’s out of control. They have had the opportunity to collect really sensitive information, including about places where nuclear weapons are stored, says Carolina Angelis. So far, there have been no official reactions from the White House to the media reports. – I think people already suspected that it was a spy balloon at an early stage. Now you probably have proof of that, says Carolina Angelis. The Chinese spy balloon flew into American airspace on January 28 this year. For the next four days, it flew over the state of Montana, over an area where the United States stores some of its nuclear weapons. On February 2, the balloon was shot down just off the east coast of the United States. Watch the full interview with Carolina Angelis in the player above.
t4-general
The spy balloon got hold of sensitive information: “Very serious”
