Leaked Documents Show Officials were Aware of Additional Chinese Spy Balloons; Chinese Spy Balloon’s Solar Panels Could Power Sophisticated Radar; Pentagon Documents Show Up to Four Additional Chinese Spy Balloons

Leaked documents show officials were aware of additional Chinese spy balloons: report

U.S. officials knew about additional Chinese spy balloons beyond the one that traveled across the United States in January and February, according to a report from The Washington Post.

The Post reported on Friday that the intelligence community also continued to have questions about the balloon after shooting it down in the Atlantic Ocean as it had sensors and antennas that the government had not identified more than a week after.

The reporting was based on documents that the Post obtained from the classified documents leaked online recently that shared a wide range of U.S. intelligence and national security information. The suspected leaker, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was arrested in connection with the leak on Thursday and charged with violating the Espionage Act.

The Post reported that the balloon that was shot down was one of at least three that intelligence agencies know of. One of the other two flew over a U.S. carrier strike group in the Pacific Ocean and the other crashed in the South China Sea, according to a top-secret document.

The document did not mention launch dates for the balloons. —>READ MORE HERE

Chinese spy balloon’s solar panels could power sophisticated radar, Washington Post reports:

A Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by the U.S. in February carried solar panels that could generate enough electricity to power a type of radar that can generate images at night and through clouds, the Washington Post reported on Saturday, citing leaked U.S. intelligence documents.

The balloon’s surveillance capabilities were detailed in a U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) document allegedly leaked to a Discord chatroom by Jack Teixeira, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, the Post said.

Teixeira, 21, was charged on Friday in Boston with unlawfully copying and transmitting classified material.

The balloon caused an uproar in Washington and damaged U.S.-China ties when it flew over the U.S. in January and February. It was downed off the coast of South Carolina on Feb. 4 by a missile fired from a U.S. Air Force jet.

According to the NGA document, the balloon could generate up to 10,000 watts of solar power, more than enough to operate a sophisticated surveillance system known as synthetic aperture radar, the Post said. —>READ MORE HERE

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+++++Pentagon documents show up to four additional Chinese spy balloons: Report+++++

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