Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder said the balloon is well above commercial air traffic and doesn’t pose a threat to civil aviation, during an impromptu briefing on 3 February.

“The United States government has detected and is tracking a high-altitude surveillance balloon that is over the continental United States right now,” Brig Gen Ryder said.

“The US government, to include NORAD, continues to track and monitor it closely.”

Brig Gen Ryder said the US government has acted immediately to protect against the collection of sensitive information.

A senior defence official has confirmed the US intelligence community believes with “very high confidence” that the balloon belongs to the People’s Republic of China.

“We have communicated to them the seriousness with which we take this issue,” the official said.

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“We have made clear we will do whatever is necessary to protect our people and our homeland.

“Currently, we assess that this balloon has limited additive value from an intelligence collective collection perspective.

“We are taking steps, nevertheless, to protect against foreign intelligence collection of sensitive information.

“It is appearing to hang out for a longer period of time, (and is) more persistent than in previous instances. That would be one distinguishing factor.

“We did assess that it was large enough to cause damage from the debris field if we downed it over an area. There have been reports of pilots seeing this thing, even though it’s pretty high up in the sky. So ... it’s sizable.”

Recommendations from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army General Mark A Milley and Air Force General Glen D VanHerck, commander of US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, advise that the balloon be left to continue to float above the United States rather than attempt to shoot it down due to the risk of putting civilian communities at risk.

Robert Dougherty

Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.