Chinese spy balloon captures intel on US military sites.
US officials downplay the significance of intelligence gathered by a Chinese spy balloon that flew over American military installations earlier this year, stating that any signals or electronic intelligence gathered was of "limited intelligence value" and that measures were taken to mitigate Beijing’s ability to collect data. However, a report from NBC News claims that the balloon was able to gather intel from numerous sensitive American military sites, and that China was able to control the balloon to allow it to pass over the sites multiple times while transmitting information back to Beijing in real time. The majority of the destroyed balloon was later recovered from the ocean, and foreign policy experts believe that China successfully gathered U.S. military and technological information through its spy balloon.