Biden Officials Hoped to Cover Up Chinese 'Spy Balloon' Incident - Report

The US military shot down four unidentified airborne objects earlier this year, including one that Washington claimed to be a Chinese surveillance balloon. Beijing has repeatedly stressed that it was a civilian craft engaged in scientific research that entered US airspace by accident.

The White House initially tried to sweep the embarrassing ‘Chinese spy balloon’ incident under the rug earlier this year, NBC News has reported.

“Before it was spotted publicly, there was the intention to study it and let it pass over and not ever tell anyone about it," one former senior US official was cited as saying.

Potential reputational blowback for US-China relations were ostensibly the reason why officials within US President Joe Biden’s administration had sought to keep the incident a secret from Congress and the American public.

"It caused so many problems," one senior administration official told the outlet.

USAF jet fighters shot down the Chinese balloon over the Atlantic Ocean in February after it had drifted across Canada and much of the western US. Washington claimed it was being used by Beijing for gathering intelligence. China denied those allegations and said the craft was a commercial weather balloon. Brigadier General Pat Ryder, a spokesperson for the Pentagon, later admitted that the US was not aware of the balloon's intelligence-gather capabilities.The incident further heightened tensions between the US and China.

The news network qutted a previously unreported phone call on January 27 between President Joe Biden’s top military adviser, General Mark Milley and head of the US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) Command General Glen D. VanHerck.

VanHerck reportedly told Milley that they had been tracking a mysterious object flying over the Asia-Pacific over the course of ten days. VanHerck added that the Pentagon would be sending up F-22 military jets to assess the object’s nature. The flight determined the object did not possess any offensive capabilities, said the report.

Biden was reportedly not briefed on the balloon incident until February. Media subsequently broke the story to the general public on February 2.

When asked to comment on the report, a senior Biden administration official denied there was any attempt to keep the incident a secret.

“To the extent any of this was kept quiet at all, that was in large part to protect intel equities related to finding and tracking them. There was no intention to keep this from Congress at any point," the official told NBC.

Earlier this year, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the flying apparatus had indeed originated from China, and had deviated significantly from its route due to wind conditions. The ministry's statement clarified that its use was strictly for scientific research, including meteorological studies. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning warned against speculating on the topic of the "Chinese spy balloon."

"To call it a 'spy balloon' that collected intelligence is nothing but a false accusation," Mao told a briefing.