Edward Snowden: ‘Spy Balloon’ Frenzy Meant to Distract From Actual Scandals
The recent downing of several unidentified objects across Canadian and US skies have captivated onlookers, with some postulating the balloons are none other than extraterrestrial life coming to make contact with Earth.
However, according to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the constant reporting on the spy balloons is merely a distraction from other, more critical scandals involving the US. “It’s not aliens. I wish it were aliens. But it’s not aliens. It’s just the ol’ engineered panic, an attractive nuisance ensuring [national security] reporters get assigned to investigate balloon bulls**t rather than budgets or bombings,” tweeted Snowden, referring to the Nord Stream explosion.
Last week, renowned investigative journalist Seymour Hersh published a scathing substack alleging the Biden administration along with Norway orchestrated and ordered the bombing of Nord Stream 1 and 2 in September. The US government quickly embarked on damage control, calling Hersh’s exposé “utterly false and complete fiction.”
Meanwhile, in the days following, the US military started shooting down unknown “objects” from the North American sky, with National Security Council spokesman John Kirby telling the public that government officials still don’t know what the three objects are, or where they originated from.
However, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre later clarified that there was not “indication of aliens or extraterrestrial activity.”
Recall, on February 19, US fighter jets brought down a “high altitude object” off the coast of Alaska, and the following day downed an “unidentified, unmanned object” in the Yukon. Then, a third object was shot down from the skies overtop Lake Huron as it neared the state of Michigan on February 12. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin explained that the unknown objects didn’t pose a threat to civilians on the ground, and were different from the Chinese “spy balloon” a F-22 fighter jet shot down over South Carolina earlier.
The US government has thus far refrained from unveiling details of the objects’ debris, giving rise to public speculation that they may of extraterrestrial origin. Tesla CEO Elon Musk even joked that it was “friends of mine” merely paying a visit.
In the meantime, a hobby club from Illinois has offered a possible explanation regarding the origins of the peculiar floating objects. According to a report from Aviation Week, one of the Northern Illinois Bottlecap Balloon Brigade’s (NIBBB) pico balloons— devices that are sent into high altitude and are tracked as they circulate the globe— went “missing in action” over the west coast of Alaska before projections suggested it floated into the Yukon territory the following day on February 11.
“A small, globe-trotting balloon declared ‘missing in action’ by an Illinois-based hobbyist club on Feb. 15 has emerged as a candidate to explain one of the three mystery objects shot down by four heat-seeking missiles launched by U.S. Air Force fighters since Feb. 10,” read the report. Indeed, the Pentagon itself later offered a description of the downed object, calling it a “small, metallic balloon with a tethered payload below it“— which, evidently, matches the description of the NIBBB’s pico ballon.
“The descriptions of all three unidentified objects shot down Feb. 10-12 match the shapes, altitudes and payloads of the small pico balloons, which can usually be purchased for $12-180 each, depending on the type,” the report from Aviation Week added.
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