Pentagon Confirms Authenticity of U-2 Pilot’s ‘Spy Balloon’ Selfie
U-2 pilot’s selfie with Chinese aerostat.
InternationalIndiaAfricaUS officials and media riled much of the nation into a state of anti-China hysteria after a Chinese “spy balloon” entered US and Canadian airspace and traveled across North America before being shot down by a US fighter jet off the Carolinas. The Pentagon has yet to present any evidence to corroborate that the balloon really was a spy craft.The US military has confirmed the authenticity of a viral image circulating online of a US Air Force U-2 reconnaissance plane pilot posing for a selfie with the Chinese dirigible that became a veritable US media sensation earlier this month.The image, originally posted to a U-2-related blog by journalist Chris Pocock along with an article playing up the spy plane’s versatility against surveillance balloons, spread like wildfire online after being cleaned up and de-grained.“I saw the report. I can confirm the photo’s authenticity,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters. The spokesperson added that at this time, “the majority of the balloon, including the payload, was recovered” during search operations off the coast of South Carolina, where the balloon was shot down on February 4.US media had reported on the photo’s existence before Pocock’s publication, with anonymous officials saying it had “gained legendary status in both NORAD and the Pentagon,” and helped highlight the failure of US military intelligence to flag the balloon’s entry into US airspace as “urgent” despite its purported capabilities to carry out “signals intelligence collection operations.”US officials and the military have yet to present any hard evidence showing that the Chinese aerostat was indeed as “spy balloon,” with the Pentagon referring reporters to the FBI, and the domestic intelligence agency citing an ongoing probe into the balloon’s remains.
WorldBeijing Says Washington Should ‘Repair Damage’ Caused Amid ‘Spy Balloon’ Craze19 February, 05:13 GMTBeijing has blasted US officials and media over the hysteria whipped up over the balloon, which China maintains was a weather balloon that blew off course. Late last week, Wang Yi, China’s top diplomat, urged the US to “change course” and “soberly assess and repair the damage caused to Chinese-US relations” by the balloon incident and the “excessive use of force” against the Chinese dirigible. Wang’s comments followed remarks by a US State Department spokesman that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had chided the Chinese diplomat out over China’s “irresponsible act,” and stressed that this “violation of US sovereignty and international law” must “never again occur.”A Wednesday poll found that 49 percent of Americans believe the government is lying to them about the balloon incident, with 53 percent confident that China purposely sent the balloon to spy on America, while 13 percent said they were not at all concerned about the appearance of such objects over North America.
AmericasPoll: Almost 50% of Americans Do Not Trust US Government on ‘Spy Balloon’ CrazeYesterday, 16:36 GMTIntelligence experts have questioned the logic of US official and media claims that the balloon was a “spy” craft, citing China’s extensive network of surveillance satellites, and other means which can provide Beijing much more valuable and usable intelligence than a piece of technology going back to the 1950s which can be detected by sky gazers with the naked eye.
