As concerns continue to mount over the presence of Chinese spy balloons in the United States, reports are emerging that the balloons have been a persistent problem both in the United States and across the world.
This week, it was revealed that spy balloons released by China are also flying over Latin America, just as it has been revealed that the United States government has been aware of similar issues for at least a year, if not longer.
The fact that the problem has existed for years begs the question of why the Biden administration was not prepared with a response when it was revealed that spy balloons were flying over the northern United States.
In a thread compiled by an independent reporter, multiple countries, including India and Japan, have reported the presence of Chinese spy balloons.
The United States has also been aware of the presence of such balloons in Hawaii for almost a year now.
Similar high-altitude surveillance balloons and airships have previously been spotted over Hawaii, Japan, India, and the Phillipines.
The same type of reconnaissance balloon was spotted over Sendai, Japan, on June 17, 2020.
Japanese officials said:
“We have absolutely no idea what it is. It may be some kind of weather monitoring equipment, but it definitely isn’t ours.”
Japanese officials confirmed that the balloon was “equipped with a cross part hanging beneath it as well as two propellers,” but were unable to determine the purpose or owner of the balloon.
The same type of reconnaissance balloon was spotted over Port Blair, India, on Jan. 6, 2022.
Indian officials were unaware of its origins.
“Zoomed photograph showed some eight dark panel-shaped equipment/objects attached to the flying object.”
The Air Force scrambled F-22s to investigate the same type of reconnaissance balloon off the coast of Hawaii on Feb. 16, 2022.
An Air Canada flight spotted the balloon on approach to Honolulu.
