Do You Believe The Chinese Balloon Is Just A Weather Balloon?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The first pieces of debris from the suspected Chinese spy balloon are in the FBI’s lab in Quantico, Virginia for analysis. More possible debris has been spotted on the coast of South Carolina, and police are asking residents to report other sightings. The balloon was shot down by an F-22 fighter jet about six miles off the Myrtle Beach coast on Saturday. Officials say it was 200 feet tall and likely weighed several thousand pounds. The Chinese say it was just a weather balloon that went off course.

Critics say it took too long for the Biden administration to shoot down the balloon. Others say it was the right move to wait. Former Trump National Security Adviser John Bolton says, “Were we confident there was not a nuclear weapon in that payload? Were we confident it was not carrying biological weapons, pathogens or toxins?” And, Rep. Jim Himes, a House Intelligence Committee ranking member and a Democrat, says, “There’s just immense intelligence value in having this thing brought down over water where we can salvage it in a more, hopefully, complete fashion.”

China admitted Monday that a second “weather” balloon spotted over Latin America is theirs. They say that the aircraft is “civilian” in nature and shifted off course because of weather and its “limited self-steering capability.”

Our question of the night: Do you believe that it’s really just a weather balloon?

This episode features:
WCCB TV’s Morgan Fogarty
WCCB News Edge contributor Ashley Anderson