‘Hysteria’: Is the Panic Over Balloons Getting Out of Hand?

U.S. fighter jets have shot down three unidentified flying objects since Friday, amid allegations from the Biden administration that China is deploying spy balloons as part of a vast aerial surveillance program.

The spectacle has drawn attention to the potential use of the humble device for spying, but some scientists have expressed concern the episode could give balloons a bad rep and undermine research.

“Obviously a balloon on covert mission will not pop-up in the iPhone app of Flightradar24, but it could be more or less traced as any other flying object using radars and so on. There is no ‘invisibility’ here,” said Luis E. Pacheco, editor of StratoCat, an Argentina-based database that documents use of the device.

“There are some worries in the community about the consequences of the hysteria around this issue and how it will affect scientific and amateur balloon programs,” he told VICE World News. 

U.S. officials have attributed the repeated shootdowns to “heightened alert” following the recent incursion of an alleged Chinese spy balloon into U.S. territory. The device was brought down on Feb. 4 by a Sidewinder missile fired by an F-22 fighter jet.

The sighting and downing of the aerial vehicle has prompted global balloon mania, with sightings in Europe, South America, and across Asia. 

In response, the Chinese government, which has insisted the white balloon spotted over Montana was just a weather research device blown off course, on Monday accused the U.S. of illegally flying balloons into the country’s airspace “more than ten times” since last year. 

“It is the U.S. who has been abusing its technological strength and engaged in massive, indiscriminate wiretapping and secret theft globally,” Wang Wenbin, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said in a press briefing. The U.S. has denied flying surveillance balloons over China. 

Some countries, including Costa Rica and Canada, have reported sightings of similar balloons and moved to destroy them, but some of the devices may have nothing to do with espionage.

For example, an aerial object detected over Yukon in northwest Canada on Saturday was shot down at the request of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but some scientists say it might be a pico balloon flown by civilians. 

Danny Bowman, a scientist who uses high-altitude balloons to study atmospheric science, urged balloonists to clearly label their payload boxes and coordinate with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration before any flight. 

As the balloon craze takes on a life of its own in some conspiratorial-minded circles, some governments have taken a more measured tone on the flying objects.

On Tuesday, Taiwan’s military said it has not detected any surveillance balloons in the self-ruled island’s vicinity, contrary to recent news reports that claimed Chinese military balloons frequently made incursions into airspace of the island democracy, which Beijing claims as its own territory.

“The majority of the balloons near our waters were used for meteorological purposes,” Major General Huang Wen-chi, a Taiwan military intelligence officer, said in a press briefing, adding that they didn’t pose a security threat.

Pacheco stressed how important it is not to let this episode and the risks of balloons being used in espionage overshadow their potential in research and education. 

“Balloons are platforms used for multiple purposes—as a knife that can cut your food or your throat—all depending on intention,” he said.

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