US intelligence officials determined the Chinese spy balloon used a US internet provider to communicate
- Intelligence officials have revealed that a Chinese spy balloon flying across the US reportedly used a US internet service provider to communicate
- A new report stated that the balloon was connected to a US-based company and communicated with China regarding its navigation
- The unidentified internet service provider company has denied all such claims
Intelligence officials have revealed that a Chinese spy balloon that flew across the US for a week in February used a US internet service provider to communicate.
The balloon had drifted eastward and entered U.S. airspace over Alaska on Jan. 28 and was tracked as it flew over Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, where nuclear assets are stored.
On February 4, the Air Force sent an F-22 fighter jet armed with an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile to shoot down the balloon over water.
In a new report from NBCthe outlet cited two current and one former U.S. officials familiar with the report as sources.
The report said the balloon was connected to a US-based company and communicated with China regarding its navigation.
The spy balloon floats over the Atlantic Ocean just off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, with a fighter jet and its contrail underneath
The Chinese spy balloon was shot down by an F-22 over the South Carolina coastline on Saturday
It further stated that the connection “enabled the balloon to send burst transmissions or high-bandwidth data collections over short periods of time” to its home base in China.
The channel did not release the name of the company.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, said it was a weather balloon that accidentally drifted into U.S. airspace.
They told NBC in a rack: 'As we previously clarified, the airship, which was being used for meteorological research, inadvertently drifted into the US due to westerly winds and its limited self-steering capabilities. The facts are clear.'
The unidentified internet service provider company has denied all such claims.
This comes days after it emerged that officials in the Biden administration planned to keep the Chinese spy balloon secret, with a top Air Force commander admitting that the balloon exposed holes in their intelligence collection.
A source told NBC: “Before it was publicly discovered, the plan was to study it and let it pass us by and never tell anyone about it.”
The Biden administration has remained adamant that the balloon that Beijing previously denied was a government vessel that did not collect and transmit data.
The F-22 Raptor is seen taking off from Joint Base Langley-Eustis to shoot down the balloon
President Joe Biden downplayed the recent Chinese spy balloon that floated across the US, saying he thinks China's leaders may not have been aware of it
A U.S. Air Force U-2 pilot looks down at the Chinese surveillance balloon as it hovers over Central America
A senior Biden administration official denied that there was an attempt to keep the balloon secret from the exhaust.
They said: 'To the extent this was kept quiet at all, it was largely to protect information shares related to discovery and tracking. At no time was there any intention to withhold this from Congress.”
NBC also revealed that Gen. Mark Milley and NORAD chief Gen. Glen VanHerck said during a Jan. 27 phone call that the Pentagon planned to send 5 to 22 fighter jets to gauge its characteristics.
Shortly after that call, fighter jets used targeting pods to determine that the object was indeed a balloon about the size of three school buses and equipped with a surveillance payload.
President Biden was not informed about the balloon until February 1, and the public later learned about it after NBC broke the story.
VanHerck has since said the balloon exposed gaps in the intelligence community and warned that China's balloon program is still ongoing.