Peter Bergen and the Grand Union Project: A Short History of his Service to the United States Air Force, and His Work as a Soldier in the Cold War

Peter Bergen is a professor of practice at Arizona State University, a vice president at New America and a CNN national security analyst. Bergen is the author of The Cost of Chaos. His views are not reflected in this commentary. CNN has more opinion on it.

And it reminded me that when my father, Tom Bergen, was a lieutenant in the US Air Force in the mid-1950s, he worked on a program to help send balloons into Soviet airspace.

In 1954 he was assigned to Headquarters Air Material Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio. There he worked on the “Grand Union” project, which deployed balloons that carried cameras over the then-Soviet Union. The spy balloons were launched from Turkey.

My dad didn’t talk about this part of his career much, likely because the work was secret, but the program has long since been declassified since it happened around seven decades ago.

The Pentagon Anomaly Resolution Office: The Case of a Newly-Bonded Airborne Spy Balloon and a Russian Battle Group

Inexpensive and more maneuverable, spy balloons offer some advantages over satellites. It is worth it for the US military to continue to look for weird objects in the skies that may be Chinese balloons or drones.

Now the United States and its rivals have these new-fangled gizmos called “spy satellites,” which can take photos! They are capable of doing a full-motion video. They can take thermal imagery that detects individuals moving around at night! They can use the skies to spy on almost anything with a resolution of centimeters.

Indeed, commercial satellite imagery is now getting so inexpensive that you can go out and buy your own close-up images of, say, a Russian battle group in Ukraine. Just ask Maxar Technologies; they have built up a rather profitable business on this model, which was just acquired two months ago for $6 billion by a private equity firm.

The official suggested that the US is eyeing sanctions for the presence of the balloon in US airspace – which US officials have repeatedly called a violation of US sovereignty and international law – noting the US “will also explore taking action against PRC entities linked to the PLA that supported the balloon’s incursion into US airspace.”

It may help explain something that was published by the US Office of Director of National Intelligence last month.

The report examined more than 500 reports of unidentified objects in the sky over the past two decades, many of them reported by US Navy and US Air Force personnel and pilots. These reports were assessed by the Pentagon’s All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office, a fancy name for the office that tries to examine UFO sightings.

The First FBI Investigation into the F-35 Phantom Flying Off the Galaxies: President Antony Blinken’s Flying Balloon Shot Down on the Coast of Ireland

But China has arguably done much worse. US officials claim that China benefited from the work of hackers who stole design data about the F-35 fighter aircraft as it builds its own new generation of fighters and that they also took up much of the personal information of over 20 million Americans who were members of the US government. China denied that it was responsible for the OPM hacking and dismissed the F-35 theft report.

The Biden officials told Congress that it’s still unclear what the motivation was for the flight of the balloon across the US, which prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone his trip to China. One of the sources said that the US believes senior leadership of the People’s Liberation Army and Chinese Communist Party including Xi were also unaware, and the US believes the Chinese are still trying to figure out how this happened.

Administration officials from the Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence community briefed lawmakers on Capitol Hill on the balloon which was shot down off the coast of Ireland, leading to criticism from Republicans.

A senior State Department official said Thursday that the balloon “was capable of conducting signals intelligence collection operations” and was part of a fleet that had flown over “more than 40 countries across five continents.”

The order to send the balloon was sent without the knowledge of the Chinese president, sources said.

The FBI investigation into recovered balloon is the first of its kind in the bureau’s history, senior FBI officials familiar with the operation said Thursday as they described the initial stages and what’s been recovered so far.

One official stated that all the evidence had been delivered to FBI analysts, including theopy itself, the wiring, and a small amount of electronics. The load is where analysts would expect the lion’s share of electronics to be.

“We did not assess that it presented a significant collection hazard beyond what already exists in actionable technical means from the Chinese,” said Gen. Glenn VanHerck, the commander of US Northern Command and NORAD.

In the classified congressional briefings, the administration officials argued that the US didn’t move earlier to shoot down the balloon in part over fears it could provoke an escalation of military tensions with China or even a military conflict. Biden gave the order to shoot down the balloon whenever the Pentagon felt it was safe to do so, the sources said, so the Pentagon ultimately made the call on when to shoot it down.

The officials told the legislators that it was less likely they could recover the balloon due to the cold and deep waters of Alaskan airspace.

Sen. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Illinois, spoke at a high energy meeting of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Thursday

The House briefing Thursday morning was tense, the sources said, with several Republicans railing against the administration, including GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who said that the Pentagon made the president – whom she noted she doesn’t like – look weak by their actions.

The Pentagon told us that they were able to mitigate in real-time, and I believe that is correct, according to the Illinois Democrat.

The administration, the president, our military and intelligence agencies acted with care. At the same time, their capabilities are extraordinarily impressive. Was everything done 100% correctly? I can’t imagine that would be the case of almost anything we do. Romney said that he came away more confident.

At Thursday’s meeting of the Appropriations Committee, senators pressed defense officials about the military’s assessment of Chinese intel, with one telling officials that he did not know how they could say it was not a military threat.

“You guys have to help me understand why this baby wasn’t taken out long before and because I am telling you that that this ain’t the last time. “Now we have seen a long incursion, what will happen next?” asked the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee, as he spoke about brief incursions.

He said that they don’t know because they have been briefed in his committee about the risks that China poses. China tends to push the envelope until a line is set down.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/09/politics/spy-balloon-technology/index.html

The Defense Department had no information on the shot-down of a high-altitude object over Alaska, but officials have not determined its capability or origin

While the Defense Department wasn’t concerned about the balloon gathering intel in Alaska, it was near some sensitive sites.

The Chinese balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina about 10 days ago.

It’s not yet clear where the balloon’s parts were manufactured, the officials said, including whether any of the pieces were made in America. Because analysts have yet to look at the bulk of the equipment on the balloon, the officials said that there has not been a determination as to everything the device was capable of doing and its specific intent.

Analysts have not identified any type of threat that would pose a danger to the American public in the small portion they have examined.

One of the sources familiar with the congressional briefings noted that there was English writing on the parts of the balloon that were not high-tech. The source declined to provide more information on what was in the balloon.

President Joseph Biden said Wednesday that the balloon incident did not affect the bilateral relationship with China, as China retaliated angrily, refusing a call with the Secretary of Defense and postponing a high-stakes trip to Beijing. New sanctions in response to the balloon would likely further inflame tensions.

China countered U.S. accusations with its own claims, alleging that the U.S. “flew spy balloons into Chinese airspace more than 10 times since January 2022 without Beijing’s permission,” as NPR’s Emily Feng reported.

President Joe Biden told CNN that the shoot down a “high-altitude object” hovering over Alaska on Friday “was a success,” shortly after American national security officials disclosed that the commander-in-chief gave the US military approval to take the action.

The object that was taken down by American fighter jets was flying over US airspace, just a week after a Chinese spy balloon was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.

“The Department of Defense was tracking a high-altitude object over Alaska airspace in the last 24 hours,” National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications John Kirby announced to the press on Friday.

The Defense Department did not have any information about the object’s capabilities, purpose or origin. He said that the object was very small and not similar in size or shape to the balloon that was brought down off the coast of South Carolina.

There were two attempts to evaluate the object after it flew. Fighter aircraft engaged late Thursday night and early Friday morning. Both engagements yielded “limited” information, Kirby told reporters.

Kirby said that they were able to get fighter aircrafts up and around it before the order to shoot it down.

Biden, at the recommendation of the Pentagon, ordered the military “to down the object and they did,” Kirby added. The object came inside territorial airspace and was brought down by fighter aircraft assigned to US Northern Command. It fell over the cold waters of the Aleutian Islands, near the Canadian border. The US expects to recover the debris.

US Northern Command’s Alaska Command coordinated the operation with assistance from the Alaska Air National Guard, Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ryder said.

The Shooting Down of the Chinese Spy Balloon in Deadhorse, Alaska, and the First High-Altitude Launch of a Sonogram

“We’re calling this an object because that’s the best description we have right now. Kirby said they didn’t know who owned it -whether it’s a state-owned or private company.

The object was first noticed by the US government. Biden was first briefed Thursday night “as soon as the Pentagon had enough information,” Kirby said.

The object was much less predictable due to the fact that it did not appear to be self-maneuvering.

The Federal Aviation Administration issued a temporary flight restriction Friday in the area around Deadhorse, Alaska, as the military took action against the object.

The president has stood by the way he and his administration handled the balloon, which was shot down after flying over the country, but has faced criticism from Republicans for allowing it to fly over the country.

There is no evidence that aliens or aliens are involved in the recent take-down. All of you know that and I wanted to make sure the American people were aware. And it was important for us to say that from here because we’ve been hearing a lot about it.”

US government officials said at the beginning of the month that the Chinese spy balloon was roughly the size of three buses. The US Defense Department believes that the balloon that was shot down on Friday was probably not a balloon, but a small car. The object shot down on Saturday, on orders from Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, was described by Canadian officials as cylindrical and seemingly smaller than a surveillance balloon. US officials said that the alien was octagonal and not carrying anything when it was shot down.

The Federal Aviation Administration approves balloons before they are released. The agency can then issue a notice to air mission, or NOTAM, which alerts aircraft pilots that airspace is restricted around the area where the balloon will be deployed. A similar process occurs every time rockets are launched to space.

Weather balloons and research balloons typically fly to altitudes of more than 100,000 feet (30,480 meters), well above where commercial aircraft typically fly, according to NASA and the National Weather Service.

Even individual citizens can launch their own high-altitude balloon for research, educational or entertainment purposes. For example, Emily Calandrelli, an engineer and media personality, launched a sonogram of her unborn child on a high-altitude balloon in 2019 and documented the experience online. There are also a few companies exploring ways to use technologically advanced balloons to send paying customers on high-altitude adventures aboard a luxurious capsule.

Here’s a look at how high-altitude balloons work, what they’re commonly used for, and how they compare with the unidentified objects in all the latest headlines.

High-Altitude Objects and Space Missions for Research and Industry: State of the Art and Prospects for China’s Campaign

He said that China’s campaign isn’t new, and that it’s likely that we’re hearing more about it now because the military is better at tracking them.

The objects did not pose a threat to people on the ground but were taken down by military jets out of an “abundance of caution”, according to an assistant secretary of defense.

Dalton also acknowledged that high-altitude objects can be used by a range of companies, countries and research organizations for “purposes that are not nefarious, including legitimate research.”

There are many different configurations and types of high-altitude balloon, but they all function using the same principles. The balloon is partially filled with gasses prior to launch. The gas in the balloon expands as the balloon grows and the air gets thinner.

The scientific instrument — called a radiosonde — that ascends attached to a weather balloon parachutes back to the ground once the mission is complete, according to the National Weather Service. NASA also states on its website that it uses a chase plane to track science balloons as they descend to ensure they land in safe locations.

The research never stopped, even as suborbital sounding rockets offered new ways of getting experiments to the upper atmosphere. It is possible to hover in one place for extended periods of time and cost less than rockets because of the unique advantages that balloons offer.

The Discovery and Recovery of Chinese Spy Balloons and Other Airborne Debris from the White House Office of the National Library of Investigations

The recent events were ripe for conspiracy theories because of the mysterious nature of the airborne objects.

The White House, recognizing the potential for the spread of outlandish theories, has sought to tamp down on fears the objects could have originated from a hostile state or even from outer space. On Tuesday a top White House official said they weren’t much of a problem.

Kirby said he was comfortable ruling out the possibility the objects belonged to the US government, and said there was currently no indication they were connected to China’s spy balloon program, which has commanded attention after the US shot down a Chinese spy balloon earlier this month.

On Capitol Hill, senators emerging from a classified briefing on the objects said they were reassured after hearing from administration officials that the objects posed no threat to the American people.

“There are a lot of these things that are up in the air from time to time, some commercial, some government and maybe there’s some things we don’t know,” said Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, adding he wasn’t worried “in the slightest” that the objects themselves pose a threat to the American people.

The disclosures seem to put to rest the speculation regarding the origin of the balloons, since the remnants of them are still to be collected. Administration officials doubt their ability to recover debris from the objects given the tough conditions that they landed in.

The recovery of the fallen debris and an analysis of what might have been is a process that officials acknowledge could take some time.

The geographic challenges on Lake Huron and on sea ice north of Alaska have made it difficult for those efforts to be made.

The time of year makes it difficult to recover Chinese spy balloon debris because of the high seas off the coast of South Carolina.

Canadian officials and the search for airborne debris. A reappraisal of Canada’s response to the news of the three downed objects

Kirby said the government was relying instead on information and expertise from the Federal Aviation Administration and the intelligence community to glean what they could about the mysterious airborne devices.

The Prime Minister of Canada said the search area was a fairly large area in the wilderness. Canadian officials were candid about the difficulty in recovering debris from high-altitude objects that have been shot down.

We are doing our best to locate them, but there is no guarantee that we will. The terrain in the Yukon isn’t great at the moment and it poses some significant challenges to us in terms of our recovery efforts, the same can be said for the marine conditions in Lake Huron.

Officials also disclosed that the object that was shot down over Lake Huron was first detected in Southern Alberta. Canadian officials said they have deployed investigators with explosives, chemical, biological and radiological expertise.

“Everyone wants answers that no one has at the moment,” one official said, conceding there was a risk with the void of information that conspiracies could sprout.

Sources said that a determination was made that even in the absence of concrete information that could be shared with the public about the three downed objects it would be prudent to publicly rule out the possibility of extraterrestrial activity.

Administration officials continue to say their goal is to provide as much information as they can about the objects, but they have noted the circumstances are less than ideal for effective communication.

The president has acknowledged that without a full picture of what the objects were his ability to communicate on them is limited and he has expressed a wish to be as transparent as possible, according to officials.

It would be prudent for Biden to speak to the public, particularly given the situation is ripe for conspiracy theories, according to a lawmaker on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Discovery of Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena with the U.S. Department of National Intelligence During the Balloonmania

According to researchers, the US government tracked a number of ufos in its airspace before the balloon mania began. The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a January report, for example, tracking incidents involving UFOs, which the US government calls Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena or UAPs. There were over 200 reports of UAPs from March 5, 2021, through August 30, 2022, the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office. In a wider pool of 366 UAP reports that also includes newly discovered incidents that occurred before 2021, ODNI said that 163 were balloons “or balloon-like entities,” 26 were “Unmanned Aircraft Systems,” or drones, and six were “attributed to clutter.” Not all the balloons are balloons and not all the balloons are spy balloons.

The RAND Corporation senior technical analyst and a former naval aviation pilot, said that they had not been detecting them in the past. I believe that filters have previously overlooked things that were too small to be considered threats. Now that the parameters on the filters have been adjusted, we’re seeing more of what was already there for the past few years.”

The recovery operation has included the use of a crane to bring up large pieces of the airship, which was kept aloft by a balloon estimated to be up to 200 feet tall.

The size of the payload was categorized by the NORAD commander as “a jet airliner type of size, maybe a regional jet,” weighing over 2,000 pounds.

The U.S. has dismissed that explanation emphatically — most notably by blowing the balloon out of the sky on Feb. 4, after it had soared over much of the continental U.S.

Even before that shootdown, analysts urged the Biden administration not to allow the craft to return to China — both to limit the data it might convey, and to allow the U.S. to gain its own insights by recovering the equipment.

News of the intrusive Chinese balloon touched off alerts in the U.S. and beyond. When the Pentagon said last week that a similar high-altitude balloon had been identified over Latin America, China responded by saying it was another research balloon that was badly off-course, deeming it “an unexpected, isolated incident caused by force majeure,” meaning events beyond the country’s control.

A Brief Sentiment to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Airborne Objects and Unidentified Particles in the Next Few Years

As for how the U.S. will handle cases of unidentified aerial objects objects in the future, Kirby said on Tuesday that the National Security Council likely will present new guidance by the end of the week.

Questions about the balloon and other objects that were recently shot down — and the U.S. approach to the airborne objects — prompted a classified intelligence briefing for the entire Senate Tuesday morning. A closed hearing will take place at 2:30 p.m. on May 9 by the Senate Intelligence Committee.