DOD did not shoot down the Chinese balloon when it was first ...

The Pentagon did not shoot down the Chinese balloon as it approached Alaska in late January because it did not pose a military threat to the United States or Canada, the top commander for defending the United States said Monday.

The balloon, which Pentagon officials said was built to spy on sensitive military sites, was shot down Saturday off the coast of South Carolina after entering the country in Alaska. Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command, briefed reporters on the decision to allow the balloon to track across the United States, recovery efforts and previous balloon incursions.

The balloon captivated Americans’ attention, fueled rage on Capitol Hill and created a diplomatic rupture with China. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned trip to China as the balloon floated over the United States.

Debris stretches the length of 15 football fields

The balloon measured 200 feet, and the intelligence payload was about the size of a regional jetliner and weighed thousands of pounds, VanHerck said. Debris from shooting it down earlier could have killed civilians on the ground, Pentagon officials have said.

The debris field in the ocean off the coast of South Carolina stretches 15 football fields by 15 football fields, VanHerck said. It is being treated as potential hazardous waste because explosives might have been aboard to destroy sensitive equipment. However, there has been no indication that the balloon carried explosives, he said.

By the time it crossed into the United States at the Aleutian Islands Jan. 28, the balloon had been assessed as a surveillance device. It did not pose a military threat, VanHerck said, so it could not be shot down.

“I could not take immediate action because it was not demonstrating hostile act or hostile intent,” VanHerck said.

Military officials took action to shield sensitive sites along the balloon’s path to limit its effectiveness, VanHerck said. Intelligence was also gained by studying its capabilities. He refused to say if electronic jamming devices were used to prevent it from transmitting information to China.

On Saturday, Pentagon officials revealed that suspected Chinese spy balloons had entered U.S. airspace three times during the Trump administration and once earlier in the Biden administration. Those incursions were not known at the time they occurred, VanHerck said. The U.S. intelligence community determined they occurred after the fact, he said.

NASA provided models that showed the debris from shooting it down could stretch over six miles, VanHerck said. That is why commanders waited until it was six miles offshore before an F-22 fired an AIM-9 sidewinder missile with an explosive warhead into the balloon at 2:39 p.m. ET on Saturday, he said.

Navy and Coast Guard ships are patrolling the area where it splashed down, VanHerck said. Strong currents prevented recovery efforts on Sunday, he said. Navy explosive ordnance disposal teams were on the site Monday assessing the debris, which is in about 50 feet of water.

They will look for explosives that may have been aboard the balloon to destroy it, although there are no initial signs of such devices, he said. They will also look for potentially hazardous waste such as batteries and broken glass from solar panels.

FBI counterintelligence officials are embedded with the Navy to examine and exploit potential sensitive material that is recovered, VanHerck said.

WASHINGTON – A U.S. warplane shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast Saturday afternoon, sending its surveillance gear into relatively shallow water where recovery efforts began immediately, Pentagon officials announced.

The balloon was downed after it passed into U.S. territorial waters, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement.The balloon, which carried a large payload of spy gear according to U.S. officials, had soared over several strategic sites, including nuclear missile silos, and became the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.

More:Video shows moment US shot down suspected Chinese spy balloon after Americans reported sightings Saturday

President Joe Biden ordered the Pentagon to down the balloon on Wednesday but commanders worried about debris killing people on the ground.

"After careful analysis, U.S. military commanders had determined downing the balloon while over land posed an undue risk to people across a wide area due to the size and altitude of the balloon and its surveillance payload," Austin said. "In accordance with the president’s direction, the Department of Defense developed options to take down the balloon safely over our territorial waters, while closely monitoring its path and intelligence collection activities."

Senior Pentagon officials, briefing reporters Saturday, revealed that suspected surveillance balloons from China had breached U.S. airspace three times during the Trump administration and at other times during Biden's tenure. The balloon shot down Saturday had made the longest incursion, they said. The officials described the shoot down and recovery efforts on condition of anonymity under Defense Department ground rules.

How the US shot down the balloon

The Pentagon scrambled F-22 warplanes from Virginia and F-15s from Massachusetts to down the balloon after it passed the coastline of South Carolina, the officials said.

Backstory:US tracking suspected Chinese spy balloon as it drifts across Montana to Midwest

An F-22, the most sophisticated warplane in the U.S. arsenal, flying at 58,000 feet fired a single AIM 9X sidewinder air-to-air missile and struck the balloon at 2:39 p.m. EDT, the official said. The balloon had been flying at about 65,000 feet when the shootdown occurred six nautical miles off the South Carolina coast in U.S. territorial waters, according to one of the officials. That was the first opportunity to do so that was deemed safe. No people or vessels were struck by the debris.

Recovery efforts began immediately and are ongoing. U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships are patrolling the area. The debris is in about 47 feet of water, a relatively shallow site that a salvage ship and divers will investigate in the coming days.

What was the balloon in the US for?

Defense officials refuted the Chinese claim that the balloon was collecting weather data and had been blown off course. It had passed over sensitive military sites, including nuclear missile silos in Montana, and was clearly spying. The Pentagon took efforts to shield information the balloons sensors could glean from those sites, the official said.

The balloon entered Alaskan airspace at the Aleutian Islands on Jan. 28, the Pentagon said. It drifted into Canadian airspace on January 30 and breached the airspace in the continental United States at Idaho on Jan. 31. Commanders declined to shoot down the balloon over Montana, fearing debris could kill people or damage buildings on the ground.

Debris from shooting it down could scatter over a seven-mile swath,officials estimated.

The debris recovered from the ocean will be examined to help determine Chinese spying capabilities, the Pentagon said. However, intelligence has already been gathered by tracking it over the United States.

Before the downing, Biden had said earlier Saturday, “We’re going to take care of it,” when asked by reporters about the balloon.

Television footage showed a small explosion, followed by the balloon descending toward the water.

Biden was first briefed on Tuesday about the balloon, the same day a White House spokesman talked to reporters about the importance of improving engagement with the Chinese.Three days later, Secretary of State Antony Blinken scrapped a trip to China because of the balloon.

What was China's response to the balloon's downing?

China said that it has the right to "take further actions" against the U.S. for taking down the balloon.

In its statement Sunday, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “China will resolutely uphold the relevant company’s legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time reserving the right to take further actions in response.” China's Ministry of Defense echoed the statement later in the day, saying it “reserves the right to take necessary measures to deal with similar situations.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Chinese spy balloon went over key military sites sites, lawmaker says

China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon maneuvered over sensitive U.S. missile and nuclear weapons sites in addition to ones in Montana passed over before being shot down off the South Carolina coast Saturday, House Intelligence Committee chairman Mike Turner said.

“If you take the path that this balloon did, and you put up an X every place where you have a missile defense site, actual nuclear weapons infrastructure, you're going to follow this path,” Turner, R-Ohio, said in a briefing with reporters Tuesday. “So I think the natural conclusion is, it is intelligence-gathering with respect to try to affect in some way the command and control of our missile defense and nuclear weapons.”

Turner did not elaborate or share other details about the investigation into China’s balloon, in some cases citing classified information. But he said the U.S. intelligence community is scheduled to brief him and other members of congressional leadership who comprise the Gang of Eight later this week on the balloon and efforts to gain any intelligence from the recovery of it.

The Gang of Eight refers to a group of congressional lawmakers who are responsible for reviewing and receiving highly sensitive intelligence information given to them by the executive branch. It includes top-ranking Republicans and Democrats and top Intelligence Committee lawmakers in the House and Senate.

Shooting down the balloon:US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast

Blinken puts off trip to China over spy balloon

Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to China because the Chinese surveillance balloon drifting over the U.S. was a "clear violation" of sovereignty and international law, Biden administration officials said Friday.

That, and the takedown of the balloon, have heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing and sparked criticism from Republicans that the Biden administration should have done more. Beijing has also criticized Biden, saying he overreacted by ordering an F-22 fighter jet to take out the puffy white dirigible.

Meanwhile, China won’t take Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s calls, according to Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.

On Saturday, “immediately after taking action to down the PRC (People's Republic of China) balloon, the DOD submitted a request for a secure call between Secretary Austin and PRC Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe,” Ryder said in a statement. “We believe in the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and the PRC in order to responsibly manage the relationship. Lines between our militaries are particularly important in moments like this. Unfortunately, the PRC has declined our request. Our commitment to open lines of communication will continue.”

The Pentagon maintains open lines with adversaries, including Russia, to avoid misunderstandings that could lead to confrontation.

GOP Intelligence Committee chair worried balloon mission exposed U.S. security gaps

Turner said Tuesday that the balloon’s journey across the U.S. – including past Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana – highlights not only the fear of intelligence gaps on what the U.S. knows about China’s intentions and capabilities but also “actually what those gaps can mean in real security threats."

"And that doesn't just mean spy balloons or even surveillance," he said, "it can also mean an actual threat to our country that these gaps could penetrate.”

The Pentagon referred to a background briefing Thursday by a senior defense official when asked about Turner’s remarks.

In that briefing, the defense official was asked whether the balloon was trying to collect intelligence on siloed nuclear weapons in Montana. “Yes, so clearly the intent of this balloon is for surveillance,” the official said. “And so the current flight path does carry it over a number of sensitive sites.”

U.S. response:State Department calls out China for knowingly sending spy balloon over the United States

"But we know exactly where this balloon is, exactly what it is passing over. And we are taking steps to be extra-vigilant so that we can mitigate any foreign intelligence risk, the official said.

A Turner spokesperson said Tuesday that the congressman could not comment further on the specifics of where the balloon traveled and what it surveilled but referred to remarks Turner made on NBC’s “Meet the Press With Chuck Todd” on Sunday.

On that show, Turner criticized the Biden administration for waiting too long to shoot down the balloon, describing it as “sort of like tackling the quarterback after the game is over.”

“The satellite had completed its mission. This should never have been allowed to enter the United States, and it never should have been allowed to complete its mission,” Turner said.

The White House has said Biden waited until the balloon – described as the size of three buses – was over water before shooting it down to prevent anyone from being injured or killed by the debris.

And Biden directed the military to "ensure we protected all sensitive sites from collection, which was straightforward because we could track the path of the balloon and ensure no activities or sensitive unencrypted (communications) would be conducted in its vicinity," White House spokesman John Kirby said. "At the same time, we turned the tables on China and collected against the balloon so that we would learn more about China’s capabilities and tradecraft."

U.S. Northern Command commander Air Force Gen. Glen VanHerck said Monday that the balloon itself was 200 feet tall and that its surveillance payload was about the size of a regional commercial aircraft and weighed about 2,000 pounds. Its size and weight fed into the decision to wait until the balloon was over water to shoot it down, VanHerck said.

But Turner said that decision jeopardized national security, despite the Biden administration's assurances that it was taking steps to cover up sensitive facilities as the balloon made its way west to east.

The balloon, with its high-tech payload of surveillance devices, “didn`t go and look at the Grand Canyon. They went and looked at our nuclear weapons sites and the missile defense sites throughout the country," Turner said.

Also Tuesday, the Navy released its first photos of its balloon recovery effort and said it was being led by its Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 off Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Military officials described the mission as an extensive operation that included the use of underwater drones, warships and inflatable vessels, according to a release from the Navy.

Some of the photos, taken Sunday, show naval operators from the Navy explosive team pulling debris from the balloon onto a boat, including huge swaths of white fabric. The Navy said the debris is being taken to an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis.

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US shoots down second 'high altitude object' following spy balloon row

WASHINGTON — The U.S. shot down an unidentified object Friday over frozen waters near Alaska at the order of President Joe Biden, less than one week after shooting down a Chinese spy balloon off the East Coast.

John Kirby, a White House spokesman, described a "high altitude object" roughly the size of a small car traveling in Alaska's air space. He said the Pentagon was not ready to determine whether the object was a balloon, where it was from or whether it was conducting surveillance.

"It was a success," Biden told reporters about the military operation to down the object.

The object was flying at an altitude of 40,000 feet, significantly lower than the 65,000-foot altitude of last week's Chinese spy balloon, and “posed a reasonable threat to the safety of civilian flight," Kirby said. The Pentagon first detected the object Thursday evening by ground radar and shot it down "out of an abundance of caution" Friday at 1:45 p.m. ET over the frozen Arctic Ocean waters near Alaska's northeast border close to Canada.

"We're going to remain vigilant about the skies over the United States," Kirby said.

Kirby said the pilots tracking the object confirmed that it was unmanned before shooting it down. He said the object traveled over land in Alaska before it was downed.

If it turns out to be another Chinese surveillance craft, that revelation could rupture already strained relations with America's top adversary. Beyond the threat to civilian airliners, a surveillance craft could spy on several sensitive military sites in Alaska, including sophisticated radar systems and missiles designed to detect and intercept ballistic missiles headed toward the United States.

Recovery crews aboard C-130, Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters were converging on the site late Friday to recover the wreckage, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters.

The object was downed by a sidewinder missile shot from an F-22 fighter jet, the same warplane and weapon that were used to take down the Chinese surveillance balloon in the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.

Kirby said the U.S. will try to learn more information about the object from the debris, which he said was spread out over a smaller area than the spy balloon.

The Chinese spy balloon, which transfixed America over the past week, had a flight path that took it over sensitive military sites, and it "had propulsion capability and steerage capability and could slow down, speed up," Kirby said. In contrast, he said, the object shot down Friday "did not appear to have the ability to independently maneuver."

"I want to stress again, we don't know what entity owns this object," Kirby said. "There's no indication that it's from a nation or an institution or an individual. We just don't know. We don't know who owns this object."

Last week's spy balloon crossed the continental U.S. and some of the military’s most sensitive sites, including nuclear missile siloes. Its breaching of U.S. airspace cratered relations with China, prompting Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel a planned trip to Beijing.

Biden has faced criticism from Republicans who say the White House should have ordered it be shot down immediately. The president said he was waiting for the balloon to reach the ocean so falling debris would not hurt civilians.

Kirby did not say whether the Biden administration planned to reach out to China about the origins of the object shot over Alaska.

Meanwhile, Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand met with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on Friday to discuss issues of mutual military cooperation, including the Chinese spy balloon that traversed the airspace over both countries.

Anand thanked Austin “for the United States’ close collaboration during the response to China’s high-altitude surveillance balloon,” according to a readout of the meeting provided to USA TODAY by the Canadian embassy in Washington.

Anand and Austin “agreed that continued cooperation between Canada and the United States, including through NORAD, ensures the security and defense of North America – and that NORAD modernization is a pressing mutual priority.”

NORAD, short for the North American Aerospace Defense Command, is the bi-lateral U.S.-Canada military command that provides continuous real-time worldwide detection, validation and warning of incoming ballistic missiles and other potential airborne threats – including balloons.

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison. Josh Meyer is at @joshmeyerdc.

Chinese spy balloon shot down after drifting across continental US

An Air Force jet shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon off the South Carolina coast Saturday afternoon, after it drifted for five days across Idaho, Montana and the continental U.S. before reaching the Atlantic.

An F-22 Raptor jet fired a single missile that sent the balloon into the ocean at about 2:39 p.m. Efforts to recover its surveillance equipment were underway.

The Pentagon had been tracking the balloon, which appeared over Billings, Montana, Wednesday after passing near an American missile launch site.

FBI eyes Pence locations search, Southwest COO to testify: recap

Former Vice President Mike Pence's Indiana home and a Washington, D.C. office may soon be searched for additional classified records. Meanwhile, the Biden administration is monitoring a Chinese spy balloon that was spotted drifting over the northern United States - though China says it's not a spycraft.

Here's what else is going on in politics:

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Biden to travel to Wisconsin and Florida following SOTU speech

Following the State of the Union Tuesday, President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and cabinet secretaries plan to "blitz the country" to highlight programs and projects made possible by legislation he pushed through Congress and signed.

On Wednesday, Biden will travel to Madison, Wisconsin, to "discuss how his economic plan is creating good-paying, union jobs and delivering real results for the American people," according to an advisory from the White House. The following day, he will travel to Tampa, Florida, – a state with disproportionately high percentage of seniors – to promote ways of strengthening Social Security and Medicare.

It's traditional for presidents to barnstorm the country following the State of the Union, where he's expected to emphasize his agenda and build on promises made in his speech.

- Maureen Groppe

Southwest Airlines COO to testify before Senate Commerce Committee

Following flight cancellations that left thousands of passengers stranded across American airports over the holidays, Southwest Airlines Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson will testify before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation next week.

The hearing follows massive cancellations from the airline during the holidays that affected over 15,000 flights.

Other witnesses include Captain Casey A. Murray, the president of Southwest Airlines Pilots Association; Paul Hudson, the president of Flyers’ Rights; Sharon Pinkerton, the senior vice president for legislative and regulatory policy at Airlines for America; and Dr. Clifford Winston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

- Rachel Looker

More:After meltdown, Southwest cancels hundreds of flights into the new year

Secretary of State Antony Blinken postpones China trip, citing spy balloon

Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed an imminent trip to China because a Chinese surveillance balloon drifting over the northern U.S. is a "clear violation" of sovereignty and international law, senior state department officials said Friday.

Blinken had been set to leave for China Friday night, though the trip had not been officially announced. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Blinken will reschedule the trip when conditions are right.

China denied that the balloon is a spycraft, calling it a “civilian airship” that blew off course. U.S. officials refute that and have considered shooting it down.

– Maureen Groppe, Tom Vanden Brook, Ella Lee

GOP Indiana Rep. Spartz won't seek reelection

GOP Rep. Victoria Spartz of Indiana announced Friday she won't seek reelection to the House of Representatives or her home state's open Senate seat in 2024.

Spartz, a Republican from Noblesville representing Indiana's 5th Congressional District, had been considering a run at the Senate seat that Mike Braun will vacate to run for governor next year. Spartz' Indiana colleague in the House, U.S. Rep. Jim Banks, announced his candidacy for the Senate seat several weeks ago.

The seat is unlikely to flip to Democrats next year as it is considered solidly Republican by the Cook Political Report.

More:Victoria Spartz won't seek office after term ends

China says balloon flying over Montana is not spycraft

China denied Friday that a balloon flying over the United States is a spycraft but a “civilian airship” that blew off course.

The airship is used for meteorological and other research, the Chinese government said in a statement in which it expressed regret for its “unintended entry” into U.S. airspace.

U.S. officials maintain that it is a Chinese spy balloon and have considered shooting it down.

– Maureen Groppe, Tom Vanden Brook

More on the spy balloon:Blinken postpones China trip amid spy balloon row; US officials scramble to get rid of it

Rubio: China ‘bigger and stronger adversary’ than Soviet Union during Cold War

In the aftermath of a Chinese spy balloon found in American airspace, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on Friday urged America to “wake up” to the threat the Asian power poses.

Rubio, who is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence select committee, said that China is a “bigger and stronger” adversary than the Soviet Union was during the Cold War, citing not military strength but also industrial, technological and economic power.

"The most important thing we need to do now is wake up and finally, for those who are still resistant to this notion, understand that China is a geopolitical competitor and adversary, the first we've had since the end of the Cold War," Rubio said.

“We need to readjust everything we do in this country to that reality," he added.

- Ella Lee

China, US tensions rise over suspected Chinese spy balloon

The discovery of a Chinese surveillance balloon spotted over American airspace has further strained already tense relations between Beijing and Washington

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said China has “no intention of violating the territory and airspace of any sovereign country” and urged calm while the facts are established.

The balloon’s appearance adds to national security concerns among American lawmakers over China’s influence in the U.S., ranging from the prevalence of TikTok to purchases of American farmland. Other issues – like Taiwan and the South China Sea, human rights in China’s western Xinjiang region and China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – have also increased tensions.

– Ella Lee, Associated Press

Chinese spy balloon:Chinese spy balloon spotted in American skies, Pentagon says; US weighed shooting it down

Montana lawmakers slam Biden on Chinese spy balloon

After a Chinese spy balloon was spotted drifting over Montana airspace, lawmakers in the state are demanding answers from the Biden administration over its implications for state and national security.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., sent a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin requesting a “full security briefing", raising concern that Montana’s Malmstrom Air Force Base and U.S. intercontinental ballistic missile fields were the target of an intelligence collection mission.

Montana’s Republican governor, Greg Gianforte, said he is “deeply troubled by the constant stream of alarming developments for our national security.” Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke called the balloon a provocation, urging Biden to “Shoot. It. Down.”

The decision not to shoot down the balloon was made due to concerns that debris could injure Americans on the ground or destroy property, a senior Defense Department official said Thursday.

– Ella Lee

Chinese spy balloon latest:Blinken postpones China trip

Pentagon: Chinese spy balloon spotted in American skies

A Chinese spy balloon has been spotted drifting over the northern United States, and Pentagon officials have considered shooting it down, Defense Department officials said late Thursday.

The decision not to shoot down the balloon – which was over Montana when the U.S. considered destroying it – was made because of concerns that debris could injure Americans on the ground or destroy property, according to a senior Defense Department official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

The balloon is designed for surveillance, but is likely unable to collect more information than is available to spy satellites, the official said. It’s not the first time Chinese spy balloons have flown over the United States, according to the official.

-Tom Vanden Brook, Ella Lee

Paul Ryan on Trump:Former House speaker says he would not back Trump, if ex-president is GOP's 2024 nominee

Paul Ryan: Trump loses elections and 'even diehard Trump supporters know this'

Former GOP House Speaker Paul Ryan is doubling down on his belief that former President Donald Trump is the wrong choice for Republicans in 2024.

Poor results in the November midterms caused friction within the GOP, resulting in the infighting on display during the House speaker election, Ryan said in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network. Many losing 2022 candidates, he added, were backed by Trump.

“I think people will move past (Trump) because we want to win,” Ryan said. “The evidence is inescapable that we just lose elections with Trump. And I think even diehard Trump supporters know this.”

-Lawrence Andrea, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; Ella Lee

New Jersey Republican councilwoman shot to death. What we know

Investigators continue to search for clues in the violent slaying of a New Jersey councilwoman, whose shooting death remains a mystery and has drawn international attention.

Sayreville Republican Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour was shot to death outside of her home Wednesday evening and was found dead and alone in her car by police. A 30-year-old married mother of a 12-year-old daughter, Dwumfour had been elected to the council as a Republican in November 2021 and served just over one year.

Police are working with FBI officials on the case and have revealed no suspects or motive for the killing. They declined to state if a suspect has been identified or if the public is in danger.

-Asbury Park Press staff, Ella Lee

North Korea warns of 'overwhelming nuclear force'

North Korea said it is prepared to respond to U.S. military moves with "the most overwhelming nuclear force," and warned that the expansion of U.S. military exercises with South Korea is pushing tensions to an "extreme red line,"

The statement by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry came in response to comments by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said Tuesday in Seoul that the United States would increase its deployment of advanced military assets to the Korean Peninsula, including fighter jets and aircraft carriers, as it strengthens joint training and operational planning with South Korea.

South Korea’s security jitters have risen since North Korea test-fired dozens of missiles in 2022, including potentially nuclear-capable ones designed to strike targets in South Korea and the U.S. mainland.

--The Associated

Classified documents much more than a Biden, Pence, Trump problem, analysts say

It’s not just former presidents and vice presidents who have been caught mishandling classified and even top-secret documents, according to lawmakers and security analysts. And it’s not just those who have left office but potentially millions of people who are currently working in sensitive positions that require a U.S. national security clearance.

“The universe of individuals who not only have access to classified information in one form or another but who have at different times mishandled it spreads across the entire gamut of the federal workforce and of cleared officials in the judiciary and Congress,” said Bradley Moss, a Washington, D.C. national security lawyer who handles mishandling of documents cases.

Moss and others interviewed by USA TODAY estimated that there are more than four million people with security clearances, including those in and out of government. In 2017, the Director of National Intelligence put the number at nearly 3 million people, including more than 1.6 million with access to confidential or secret information and another 1.2 million with access to top secret information.

– Josh Meyer

FBI expected to search Pence locations for govt records

Federal authorities and representatives of Mike Pence have been discussing voluntary searches of the former vice president’s Indiana home and a Washington, D.C., office for additional classified records, according to media reports.

The anticipated action comes after the FBI searched President Joe Biden’s Delaware vacation home Wednesday, the third Biden location where authorities have sought additional government records.

No classified documents were recovered at Biden’s Rehoboth Beach residence, but the FBI took some handwritten notes dating to his time as vice president, the president's lawyer said.

Plans for a Pence-related search, first reported Thursday by the Wall Street Journal, follow the discovery last month of a small number of documents bearing classified markings at the former president’s Indiana home.

CNN also reported that authorities are expected to search a Washington office linked to Pence.

– Kevin Johnson

From office to beach house:Timeline of investigation into Joe Biden classified documents

House GOP launches another investigation

The House Judiciary Committee is deepening its investigation of political bias with a new focus on Charles McGonigal, a former FBI special agent who pleaded not guilty last week to charges of money laundering and violating U.S. sanctions in connection to a Russian oligarch.

In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Thursday, Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., requested documents, personnel records and communications related to McGonigal by Feb. 16.

McGonigal, who led the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York for 22 years until 2018, is accused of working for Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

– Candy Woodall

Law barring guns for people with domestic violence restraining orders is unconstitutional, court rules

A federal appeals court Thursday ruled that a law barring people who are the subject of a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a firearm is unconstitutional in a case likely headed to the Supreme Court.

A three-judge panel of the Louisiana-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit said the federal law may have been based on “salutary policy goals meant to protect vulnerable people in our society,” but that it still conflicts with the Second Amendment.

The ruling from the judges – two of whom were appointed by former President Donald Trump and a third by former President Ronald Reagan – is a result of the Supreme Court’s major guns ruling last year, in which a 6-3 majority said that in order to pass constitutional muster a gun regulation must be consistent with the nation's “historical tradition of firearm regulation."

– John Fritze

Heightened concerns over US-China relations after objects shot down

The takedown of four unmanned aircraft has raised new concerns about relations between the United States and China, with both Democratic and Republican lawmakers putting a new focus Sunday on national security.

“We’re going to have to begin to look at the United States airspace as one that we need to defend and that we need to have appropriate sensors to do so,” said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, on CNN’s "State of the Union." “We certainly now ascertain there is a threat.”

On Sunday, the U.S. military shot down another unidentified flying object over Michigan. The shootdown occurred hours after airspace was temporarily closed over Lake Michigan by the Federal Aviation Administration and NORAD and after lawmakers had made the rounds on the Sunday political talk shows.

U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jets downed the object, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment.

On Feb. 4, a U.S. fighter jet shot down a Chinese spy balloon over the South Carolina coast. Less than a week later on Feb. 10, an unidentified object was shot down over Alaska. The next day, another unidentified object was shot down in northern Canada.

Related:How the Pentagon shot down an unidentified object over Alaska, echoing Chinese spy balloon

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Late discovery of balloon program is 'wild,' Schumer says

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on ABC’s "This Week" that “it is wild” that the U.S. did not learn of China’s balloon program “until a few months ago."

Schumer said he was briefed by national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Saturday night regarding the aircraft, saying that the U.S. believes the two unidentified objects that were destroyed in recent days were also balloons, but that they were "much smaller" than the initial balloon shot down Feb. 4.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the House Oversight Committee, said he was “glad” to see a swift response from the White House, but told ABC’s "This Week" that “we've got a whole lot bigger problem with China than the spy balloons," saying the White House needs to be more "firm" against China.

Related:Video shows moment US shot down suspected Chinese spy balloon

Hours after the second aircraft was shot down, the Department of Commerce announced sanctions against six Chinese companies which it said were supporting China’s military aerospace programs.

“Today’s action demonstrates our concerted efforts to identify and disrupt the PRC’s use of surveillance balloons, which have violated the airspace of the United States and more than forty countries,” Matthew Axelrod, assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement, said in a statement.

Turner: Preferable to be 'trigger happy'

Lawmakers on Sunday also expressed concerns over the U.S. military’s protocol when unidentified objects are discovered.

When asked about whether the U.S. has changed its posture towards flying objects, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said “I certainly hope not.”

“If that’s where we’re going to go, there will be an accident. At some point we’re going to shoot down something we don’t want to shoot down,” Himes said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Turner said the White House does “appear somewhat trigger happy, although this is certainly preferable to the permissive environment that they showed when the Chinese spy balloon was coming over some of our most sensitive sites.”

The first balloon's path visualized:U.S. tracked suspected Chinese spy balloon for 5 days before shooting it down over the Atlantic

Several lawmakers raised questions about the spy balloon’s flight path and whether it flew over sensitive military and nuclear weapon sites. Democratic Sen. Jon Tester noted on CBS' "Face the Nation" that the balloon flew over his home state of Montana, which houses 150 nuclear missiles.

Concerns about TikTok, foreign ownership of U.S. farmland

The discovery of the balloon and two other unidentified objects has raised concerns about other issues pertaining to China. Tester pointed out his own concerns over foreign, including Chinese, ownership of U.S. farmland.

“I don’t think they should have any opportunity to try to dictate our food supply,” said Tester, who introduced a bipartisan bill in January with Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., aimed at preventing foreign companies from owning domestic farmland.

Related:Spy fears spark flurry of proposed laws aiming to ban Chinese land ownership

Schumer also suggested that Congress should take a closer look at TikTok, the popular social media app owned by Chinese company ByteDance, to which Comer agreed, citing worries over Chinese data collection.

“(TikTok) would be a concern if we continue to see escalation among China and the United States,” Comer said.

Ban TikTok?:Restrictions on the popular video app are spreading across the U.S.

Biden's State of the Union, China spy balloon downed: recap

Democrats and Republicans found themselves on Sunday morning pressed over the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down off the South Carolina coast.

The balloon debacle comes ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address where he's expected to lay out his administration's priorities for the remainder of his term and give America answers about what his political future holds.

“The operation took place without any damage or injury to any American lives or property,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on CNN’s State of the Union, defending the White House over the balloon.

Here's what else is going on in politics:

Buttigieg defends the White House over Chinese spy balloon: Buttigieg defended the Biden administration's downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast telling NBC's Meet the Press, "This thing was brought down in a safe manner."

Buttigieg defended the Biden administration's downing of a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast telling NBC's Meet the Press, "This thing was brought down in a safe manner." Shot down sooner: While the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's "Meet That Press" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier, "before it entered U.S. airspace."

While the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's "Meet That Press" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier, "before it entered U.S. airspace." Bye, Iowa: Democrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election and bumping up four other states.

Democrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election and bumping up four other states. New poll on Biden: 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents prefer another nominee over Biden, according to a poll from the Washington Post and ABC News.

Stay in the conversation on politics:Sign up for the OnPolitics newsletter

Biden aide: Republicans have no debt ceiling/spending cut plan of their own

During his Sunday show tour, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg repeated the president's pledge that he would not negotiate a necessary debt ceiling increase with Republicans – and added that the GOP hasn't proposed anything to negotiate about anyway.

House Republicans have said they will block a debt ceiling hike unless the Biden administrations cuts overall spending, but they have not offered a specific set of cuts.

"It's very hard to understand what exactly they're proposing to cut," Buttigieg said on ABC's This Week, adding that a refusal to act on the debt ceiling would lead to a government default on existing debt that would wreck the economy.

The debt ceiling standoff is expected to be discussed during Biden's State of the Union address on Tuesday.

– David Jackson

Schumer: Senate will get a classified briefing Feb 15 on the Chinese balloon

The full U.S. Senate will receive a classified briefing Feb. 15 on the Chinese surveillance balloon threat, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Sunday.

In announcing the briefing, Schumer praised the Biden administration for taking out the Chinese balloon and criticized Republicans for second-guessing.

"The bottom line here is that shooting down the balloon over water wasn’t just the safest option, but it was the one that maximized our intel gain," Schumer told reporters.

While Republicans said Biden waited too long to take out the balloon, Schumer said the critics "were breathless, political, and premature."

– David Jackson

'Too late:' McConnell attacks Biden over Chinese balloon

Mitch McConnell, the Senate's top Republican, weighed in on the Chinese balloon affair Sunday, saying it reflected habitual slowness by the Biden administration.

"As usual when it comes to national defense and foreign policy, the Biden Administration reacted at first too indecisively and then too late," McConnell said in a written statement. "We should not have let the People’s Republic of China make a mockery of our airspace."

McConnell, the Senate minority leader, said the incident may well be part of an upcoming budget debate with Biden over military spending: "Let’s hope his budget proposal this year is more decisive, serious, and strong than the embarrassment that just played out in our skies."

– David Jackson

House GOP opens investigation into Hunter Biden’s art

Hunter Biden’s paintings have drawn the eye of House Republicans, but not for the art.

The House Oversight and Accountability Committee wants to know who bought the art and how much they paid, after list prices initially ranged up to $500,000. The chair called the figures "exorbitant" for a "novice artist" and questioned whether it amounted to influence peddling over federal policy.

Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., chair of the committee, wrote to George Berges, Hunter Biden’s art dealer, requesting a transcribed interview by Feb. 15.

“Despite being a novice artist, Hunter Biden received exorbitant amounts of money selling his artwork, the buyers’ identities remain unknown, and you appear to be the sole record keeper of these lucrative transactions,” Comer wrote.

– Bart Jansen

Gallagher, chair of House committee on China, attacks White House over balloon

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., chair of the House select committee aimed at increasing the United State’s competitiveness with China, compared the suspected spy balloon to “a robber on your front porch.”

“Letting a Chinese surveillance balloon lazily drift over America is like seeing a robber on your front porch and inviting him in,” said Gallagher on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures.

Gallagher warned the balloon could signal future aggression from China, saying “It's time to push back before it's too late, before something far more dangerous than a balloon is flying over American territory.”

– Ken Tran

Republicans: Biden team should have shot down the Chinese balloon earlier

Congressional Republicans took to the Sunday shows to bash Biden over the China surveillance balloon, saying the entire incident reflected administration weakness toward an increasingly aggressive China.

While the administration shot down the balloon on Saturday, Rep, Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told NBC's "Meet That Press" that the interception should have taken place a lot earlier.

"This should have been taken down before it entered U.S. airspace when it was over Alaska," said Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Administration officials said they waited until the balloon was over the ocean so as to minimize the risk to aircraft and people on the ground.

– David Jackson

Rubio: Balloon ‘not a coincidence’

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, criticized the Biden administration over the suspected Chinese spy balloon, saying the timing was “not a coincidence.”

“It’s not a coincidence this happens leading up to the State of the Union address, leading up to Blinken’s visit to China,” Rubio said on CNN’s State of the Union.

The Biden administration is scheduled to brief the “Gang of Eight” this week about the balloon. The group is comprised of Congress’ four party leaders and the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, which includes Rubio.

– Ken Tran

Ex-Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, crucial supporter of U.S. after 9/11, dies at 79

Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistan leader who provided crucial support to the U.S.-led "war on terror" following the 9/11 attacks, has died at 79, the Pakistan military announced Sunday.

No cause of death was revealed, but Musharraf, had been battling a rare disease, amyloidosis, and was being treated at a hospital in Dubai, Pakistani media reported.

Musharraf seized power in 1999 from then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup. Sharif had tried to remove Musharraf from his position as military leader – a year after Sharif had appointed him.

The Pakistan military issued a statement expressing "heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of General Pervez Musharraf. ... May Allah bless the departed soul and give strength to bereaved family."

– John Bacon

Buttigieg say Biden will use State of the Union to promote his economic policies; stays mum on 2024

Buttigieg went on the Sunday shows to promote President Biden's prime time State of the Union speech on Tuesday – and to avoid discussing Biden's plans to seek re-election in 2024.

"That's out of my lane," Buttigieg said on ABC's "This Week."

Buttigieg, who said it wouldn't be appropriate to discuss politics in his position as Transportation Secretary, said Biden would use the State of the Union to argue that his economic policies are working; the Cabinet member also made it clear that he hopes Biden will stay on the job after 2024.

"I'm humbled and honored to be part of his team," Buttigieg said.

– David Jackson

Buttigieg: The U.S. waited to shoot down the Chinese balloon until it drifted out over the ocean

Responding to Republican criticism, Buttigieg said Sunday the Biden administration waited several days to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon because it was over American land and air space.

Shooting the huge and heavily-equipped balloon over land would have been risky for aircraft and people on the ground, Buttigieg said on NBC's Meet The Press.

Related:US downs suspected Chinese spy balloon off Carolina coast

So the U.S. waited until it drifted out over the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday.

The Federal Aviation Administration "worked closely with the Pentagon," Buttigieg said. "This thing was brought down in a safe manner, and flights are back to normal in the U.S."

– David Jackson

Ahead of State of the Union, Democratic voters aren't keen on Biden: poll

Democratic voters aren’t keen on Biden running for reelection in 2024, with 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saying they would prefer another nominee rather than Biden, according to a poll released by the Washington Post and ABC News on Sunday.

The poll comes ahead of Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday, where he is expected to also make the case for his 2024 campaign, which he has yet to formally announce.

On the Republican side, 49% of GOP voters and GOP-leaning independents would prefer if a candidate other than former President Donald Trump compared to the 44% that do support Trump. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

– Ken Tran

Is he running?:5 big questions Joe Biden will answer in the State of the Union

Biden to answer America's questions in the State of the Union

The State of the Union address Biden is slated to deliver Tuesday night is likely to draw his biggest audience of the year and provide a blueprint for the rest of his presidency – from his stance toward the Republicans who have taken control of the House to the political question looming over his future.

Is he running for re-election?

He's not likely to directly answer that, of course. A formal announcement of his intensions isn't expected until later this month or next. But the balance he strikes between seeking common ground with the GOP and promoting Democratic causes that have limited prospects of passage will be a clue.

– Susan Page

Chinese spy balloon shot down

The United States on Saturday downed a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America and became the latest flashpoint in tensions between Washington and Beijing.

An operation was underway in U.S. territorial waters to recover debris from the balloon, which had been flying at about 60,000 feet and estimated to be about the size of three school buses.

Television footage showed a small explosion, followed by the balloon descending toward the water.

– Associated Press

On Chinese spy balloon, the question of 'why'

Among the many lingering questions about the Chinese spy balloon drifting over the United States is why the balloon was in U.S. airspace – and why now.

“What are they signaling? And what do they hope to achieve?" said Kari Bingen, a former deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security. "Because this is something that you can't miss. They were going to get caught. That's what's so brazen about it."

In his first remarks about the balloon, which the Chinese maintain is a “civilian airship” used mostly for weather research that was blown off course, Biden projected confidence: "We’re gonna take care of it," he told reporters Saturday.

– Josh Meyer, Maureen Groppe, Tom Vanden Brook, Ella Lee

Democrats approve 2024 primary calendar

Democrats approved a plan Saturday to reorder their 2024 presidential primary calendar, displacing Iowa's caucus, which has traditionally served as the starting-gun for the presidential election.

The national party green-lit a calendar that makes South Carolina the initial contest, elevates Nevada to the second position alongside New Hampshire and welcomes Georgia and Michigan to the early primary window for the first time.

Democrats are seeking to amplify diverse voices earlier in their presidential selection process. The calendar Democrats approved on Saturday will only apply to 2024. They have vowed to revisit it before the 2028 election.

– Francesca Chambers

Contributing: Associated Press

'Four more years':Biden hints at 2024 as he rallies Democratic Party leaders in Philadelphia

Death toll rises to 5000 in Turkey/Syria quake, State of the Union ...

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Death toll rises to 5,000 after quake hits Turkey, Syria

More than 5,000 people are now dead and more are missing in rubble after a devastating earthquake. Plus, USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page previews President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, Denver has a new approach to homelessness, Defense officials say they did not immediately shoot down the Chinese balloon because they didn't think it was a threat, and Dr. Andrew Hammond, from the International Spy Museum, talks about the history of spy balloons.

Podcasts:True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Tuesday, the 7th of February 2023. Today, a staggering death toll from the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. Plus, a look ahead to tonight's State of the Union, and we talk about the history of spy balloons.

The death toll has surged past 5,000 after a devastating earthquake and a series of aftershocks slammed the Turkey/Syria border collapsing thousands of buildings.

[Audio: Screams as a building collapses]

The US Geological Survey said the magnitude 7.8 quake hit just after 4:00 AM local time yesterday, just two hours before another 7.5 magnitude quake hit nearby. Turkey's President, Recep Erdoğan, has declared seven days of national morning. He spoke with President Joe Biden yesterday, who pledged US support. The White House said part of that assistance would include sending two urban search and rescue teams. Erdoğan called the quake the country's biggest disaster since a 1939 earthquake killed some 30,000 people.

Across the border in Syria, a region is struggling to recover after already being slammed by the Syrian Civil War in refugee crisis in recent years. In both countries, the death toll is expected to rise potentially by the thousands as many remain trapped beneath rubble.

Earlier this morning, Ghanaian soccer star Christian Atsu was pulled alive from the rubble in Turkey with injuries, according to the BBC. You can follow along with updates to the recovery mission on USATODAY.com.

♦

President Joe Biden will give his State of the Union address tonight, and as USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page told me, it could give a blueprint for the rest of his presidency.

Susan, thanks for coming on the podcast.

Susan Page:

Hey, it's my pleasure.

Taylor Wilson:

So what's at stake in this particular State of the Union?

Susan Page:

A lot's at stake. It's a real pivot point for President Biden. He's finished two years of his term with some really significant legislative successes, but now we have a Congress that is divided, Republicans taking over the house. Everything is about to get much harder.

Taylor Wilson:

Can President Joe Biden show the American people that he can reach across the aisle to get things done with this divided Congress?

Susan Page:

We expect him to talk about that, because he's had decades where he has insisted that bipartisanship is the way to go back to when he was a senator, when he was vice president, and during his first two years as president. But it's going to be a tough sell, because you look at the House Republicans who now control that chamber. They have a significant caucus, the Freedom Caucus, that is opposed to cooperation on almost everything, starting with raising the debt ceiling, which is likely to be the first crisis of this year.

Taylor Wilson:

And how about when it comes to the American people, Susan? A USA TODAY Suffolk University poll in December found that about two thirds of Americans felt the country was not heading in the right direction. They also expressed little confidence in either party, or even a branch of government to turn things around. So what can President Biden then say to convince those Americans otherwise?

Susan Page:

Americans are not happy with their government. They're not happy with the president, with the Congress, with either party, with the Supreme Court. They don't think the government is working for them. And this, even though we've had some good economic news inflation easing a bit, the job market continuing to be strong. I think President Biden's going to try to do a little bit of a selling job saying that we've made big progress on things including the pandemic, including inflation, although we obviously have farther to go. And he's also going to try to make the case that he deserves some of the credit for the good news and ameliorate some of the concerns people have about the bad news. That's a big job at a time Americans do not have very much faith in their government.

Taylor Wilson:

So this address comes just weeks after the death of Tyre Nichols. We know that his parents are expected to attend this address. Will Biden address them directly, Susan? And what can we expect from him in general on the issue of police reform?

Susan Page:

I would expect him to acknowledge their presence, and to talk about that terrible case and the terrible beating that their son endured at the hands of police. And I think there'll be some contrast to what President Biden said in last year's State of the Union address about police. Last year he talked about police reform, but he talked more about pushing back on the idea of "defund the police." That was his more dominant message a year ago. I don't think that's going to be true this time. I think he is going to talk about the continued problem of systemic violence on the basis of race by some police officers and the need to address that. The problem is, hard to imagine anything actually gets done. But I think it is going to be an issue he's going to talk about and highlight, and identify as a priority for himself.

Taylor Wilson:

So we don't expect Biden to announce formal reelection plans or the lack thereof during the State of the Union address, but might he hint at that question with some of this speech?

Susan Page:

I think we can look for some hints about whether he's going to run again. We think he is. He says he's inclined to run again. He hasn't said he's firmly decided. If he talks about the legislation he can get through in the next two years, that is not a guy who's running for reelection. If he talks about the legislation he would aspire to pass if and when Democrats control the Congress, again, that's a guy running for reelection.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Susan Page is the Washington Bureau Chief for USA TODAY. Great insight as always. Thanks, Susan.

Susan Page:

Thank you.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

Bans on tent cities haven't solved America's homelessness crisis, so a Denver program has a new approach. Compassion. Experts say the number of unhoused people, which was at around 590,000 nationally as of last year, is expected to rise as surging rents push people from their homes. Some cities have turned to draconian measures, including citywide sweeps that remove their makeshift tent shelters and belongings.

But in Denver, where some 2000 people sleep without shelter each night, a new program sees park rangers and mental health counselors walk through parks together to help people seeking refuge. They give out hand warmers and Gatorade and ask how they can help.

And new funding from Congress and the Biden administration will help more cities start similar mental health co-responder programs. But it's still not clear if they'll follow Denver's lead or how much success the programs will have. For more on the homelessness crisis and how cities are dealing with it, find a link in today's show notes.

♦

The Pentagon did not shoot down the Chinese balloon as it approached Alaska last month because it didn't pose a military threat to the US or Canada. That's according to Air Force General Glen VanHerck, Commander of US Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command. The US shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday. Officials said it was built to spy on sensitive military sites. The debris field after the shooting stretched about 15 football fields. It's being treated as hazardous waste. But VanHerck said there's no indication the balloon carried explosives. Over the weekend, Pentagon officials also revealed that suspected Chinese spy balloons had entered US airspace three times during the Trump administration and once earlier in the Biden administration.

♦

Did you know that spy balloons actually date back to the American Civil War? With the technology in the news this week, USA TODAY producer Callie Carmichael thought it was a good time to hear the history of this specific type of balloon. She spoke with Dr. Andrew Hammond, historian and curator of the International Spy Museum for more.

Callie Carmichael:

So tell us a little bit about the history of spy balloons?

Dr. Andrew Hammond:

So here at the International Spy Museum, we have an exhibit that looks at looking to try to get intelligence. So by that I mean balloons, cameras that were attached to pigeons in World War I, lights that were developed during the Cold War, aerial reconnaissance from a military plane. So we look at all of that, all the ways that you can use things in the air to try to gather intelligence. And the role of balloons is really, really fascinating. So here in Washington, D.C., there were actually balloons that were tested down on the mall to try to convince Abraham Lincoln about how they could be used to gather intelligence.

And during the Civil War, that's when balloons started to be used. At one point, they actually attached some of these balloons to a ship. So that meant that the balloons were mobile on the ship. Some people say this is the world's first aircraft carrier. So the American Civil War, they're quite important there. They play quite an interesting role. And then up until the modern day, they have certain pros and certain cons.

Callie Carmichael:

Yeah, I would love to hear some of the pros and cons of why you use a balloon and not something else?

Dr. Andrew Hammond:

So if you think about the different platforms that you can attach say a camera to, or ways to gather intelligence. So in World War I, I mentioned the pigeon camera. They strapped a tiny little camera onto a pigeon and sent it to fly over the trenches of the enemy. One of the problems there is, okay, it's aerial, it's moving, it's getting us stuff that we never had before. But then you have to make sense of the imagery because the pigeons flying one direction and another direction, and you have to make sense out of all of the imagery that comes on the other end.

Then you have aircraft. So what are the pros there? Well, you can make them go in a particular direction. You can have someone up there actually viewing with their own eyes, with binoculars, for example.

Then we come up to satellites. So satellites are fantastic. You can see such huge swathes of the world. You can get incredible resolution, especially these days.

But with every platform there's pros and cons, and I think that balloons, they have certain pros and certain cons. And these stratospheric blends are very, very interesting. So whereas in the Civil War, it would be hydrogen, which is flammable, these balloons are helium. The balloons in the Civil War would be much smaller. These balloons are gigantic. They are huge. The size of three buses. So they're so big and they travel a particular part of the Earth's atmosphere.

So this balloon, we've been told that it's at 60,000 feet. So it's way, way up there and it's slowly making its way across the United States. And then, I think another pro and con, if you have a balloon, an intelligence, there's what's called plausible deniability. So that people can say, "Well, this is what this is." And you can say, "Well, actually it's not. It's a weather balloon." So we see this now with this balloon. On the US side, it's a spy balloon. China has said that it's a civilian balloon that blew off of course.

And let's face it, we're talking about probably the world's most important bilateral relationship. So by that, I just mean the relationship between two countries. This is probably the most important one in terms of global security. So that's why it's so important. That's why everybody's looking at this, because there's already tension in the relationship. But it's even more fascinating if you place it within the history of spy planes, spy satellites, spy balloons.

Callie Carmichael:

Thank you so much. I really, really appreciate you taking the time to chat with us.

Dr. Andrew Hammond:

Thank you. Bye bye.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. You can find us every morning right here, wherever you get your pods. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

What does UFO stand for? Definitions, NASA studies on UFOs and ...

In the week following the takedown of a Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina, three more unidentified objects have been shot down over Alaska, Lake Huron and Yukon, Canada.

A car-sized object in Alaska flew over “sensitive military sites” Feb. 10. It was much lower in altitude and smaller than the Chinese spy balloon, but it's the repeated headline, not the size, that’s raising questions about these four objects.

Here’s everything you need to know about how NASA and the U.S. government classify unidentified objects.

What does UFO mean?

UFO stands for “unidentified flying object,” a term for an aerial phenomenon whose cause or identity is unclear to the observer.

The United States Air Force coined the term in 1952, just five years after pilot Kenneth Arnold added “flying saucer” to the world’s lexicon. In 1947, Arnold flew past Mt. Rainier in Washington state where he saw “nine bright saucer-like objects.” Though he denied initially describing them as saucers, the name had already made its mark in popular culture.

According to the Air Force Declassification Office, UFOs were initially defined “as those objects that remain unidentified after scrutiny by expert investigators, though today the term UFO is colloquially used to refer to any unidentifiable sighting regardless of whether it has been investigated.”

Unidentified object over Alaska:See how the Pentagon shot it down

Your questions answered:How many spy balloons? Are we under alien attack? Did we know this was coming?

What does UAP mean?

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration uses the more precise term “unidentified anomalous phenomena” to describe “observations of the sky that cannot be identified as aircraft or as known natural phenomena.” Until December 2022, it was known as “unidentified aerial phenomena” rather than anomalous.

NASA began a study in October 2022 to further UAP data analysis, with promises of a mid-2023 report on its findings. The study is searching for the nature and origins of UAP, scientific analysis techniques, examining the risk to the National Air Space and ways to enhance air traffic management data acquisition systems.

In NASA’s 2021 UAP report, they classified five explanatory categories:

Airborne clutter

Natural atmospheric phenomena

USG or U.S. industry development programs

Foreign adversary systems

Other

The report was largely inconclusive, but it stated that UAP “clearly pose” a risk to aviators and U.S. national security and NASA found “potential patterns” in shape, size and propulsion.

Chinese spy balloon:Lawmakers say it flew over missile and nuclear weapons sites

UFOs:US government receives over 500 reports, unclassified report says