It seemed little more than a curiosity. The massive white orb, drifting at 60,000 feet elevation and carrying a payload the size of three buses, was first spotted by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)on Jan. 28. But it was three days before there was enough concern for President Biden to be briefed by his top general, and a week before Biden gave the order for the balloon to be shot down by an F-22 fighter off the South Carolina coast.
I thought the U.S. government missed an early opportunity to defuse the situation with humor. When China claimed the device was a weather balloon and angrily insisted on their property being returned, we could have told them what people are told when they lose property: Describe it in detail and if that’s what was found, you can have it back.
Since then, the situation has rapidly escalated.
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