On February 1st, 2023, a balloon was spotted going over Billings, Montana in the U.S. by a commercial airline. The Balloon was shot down and recovered at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean floor. Not only a week later, something else was spotted heading over the same route of the balloon on February 10th. This unidentified object, along with another, was shot down out of caution. Given the scarce information about these two events happening so coincidentally, many have become worried about tensions between the U.S. and China, UFOs, and people’s safety. Others may not know how serious this is, but I’ve taken the opportunity to collect as much information as possible to help avoid any confusion. 

First and foremost, after the suspected Chinese weather balloon was shot down, the U.S. government confirmed it was a surveillance balloon and not a weather balloon which many suspected at first. Given the balloon’s surveillance aspects, it has led to speculation of it being a spy balloon. What does this mean? Well given that the surveillance balloon flew over a military base in Montana, some could think this could lead to war with China. However, Mr. Krieger with his knowledge of the government when asked about this stated, “I think that the government would tell us if there were any concerns for our safety.” After a month and a half of the government not stating any concerns as Mr. Krieger said they would, I don’t think there’s any reason to believe there could be a war. Keep in mind, nobody, not even China probably has any interest in starting a conflict with another country. The little intel that Mr. Krieger has on the topic affected his responses a bit, but his responses were very reassuring regardless. Now to see the responses of IHS student Darnell Padgett with his thoughts and concerns with the Chinese surveillance balloon. Padgett said, “I feel as though China used the spy balloon as a cover-up for the other unidentified objects that were shot down as well.” This response has brought up a lot of insight into what many others are probably thinking of the situation. It sort of serves as opposition to Mr. Krieger’s response, but brings up a possible different look to it all. Who knew that a single surveillance balloon that may have simply blown off course could cause such problems? Even though it would be nice to have a clearer answer as to why China has a surveillance balloon going over the country, a U.S. official has stated by CNN that there’s nothing to worry about. It has been stated by NikkeiAsia, a news outlet, that the balloon’s surveillance most likely revealed a lot of information about the United States’ homeland defenses. However, that’s just speculation and there’s limited information about this, and not enough to confirm what China was doing. But I think it’s fair to say that we’re safe, that nothing is to be concerned about the Chinese balloon. 

On the other hand, two unidentified objects were spotted and shot down only a week later. Was there any connection between these two objects and the Chinese surveillance balloon? Well officials by CNN have stated that there’s no indication of a connection between the objects and the Chinese spy balloon shot down the week prior. The unidentified objects were said to have no identifiable propulsion keeping them up, were located at high altitudes, were the size of a car, and even “interfered” with the sensors of commercial pilots as stated by CNN. Many people have had the conspiracy of UFOs or rather, aliens. Mr. Krieger stated he was “not sure” of what the unidentified objects were given the little information we have about the objects. Darnell Padgett would differ from this response stating, “ I feel like they were failed spy balloons that they had tried before but didn’t fly as well.” I could see these objects as failed spy balloons, given that it was flying at commercial flight heights. Seeing that they were shot down under the same circumstances as the Chinese balloon, one could think that after a month the object’s debris was recovered as was the surveillance balloon. However, CNN stated that The U.S. has not found any debris yet. The U.S. after a few days of searching gave up, but Canadian officials have since still been trying to find the debris. However, the eyewitnesses are enough for conspiracies to break out and for the pentagon not to be able to explain much about the objects. Though the object’s coincidental timing with the surveillance balloon from China is enough for most people; there’s again no connection between the two and no need to be concerned.

From the little information about these flying objects, speculation, to the debris recovered, I think it’s fair for me to say if there’s any fear for the safety and need for information, that we’re all safe and that more information will be released soon. Although conspiracy theories of a possible war with China and UFOs are out there, there’s no clear evidence to believe this.

I would advise taking any of these theories with a grain of salt, for all it will do is cause confusion and false information to spread. With all that being said, the balloon and unidentified objects pose no threat and will remain seen as such until more information is published.