Spy Historian Debunks Chinese Spy Balloon Theories | WIRED
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Dr. Andrew Hammond, Historian & Curator at the International Spy Museum, breaks down some common misconceptions about the Chinese 'spy' balloon that was shot down in the United States. Did the U.S. shoot down the balloon too late? Was this a dry run for a military attack? Was this the first time this has happened? Could the spy balloon see into our homes?
For more info about the world of espionage, check out the International Spy Museum: www.spymuseum.org
Director: Lisandro Perez-Rey
Director of Photography: Eric Bugash
Editor: Anna O'Donohue
Expert: Andrew Hammond
Producer: Anna O’Donohue
Line Producer: Joseph Buscemi
Associate Producer: Samantha Vélez
Production Manager: Eric Martinez
Production Coordinator: Fernando Davila
Camera Operator: Mike Audick
Audio: Elijah Sutton
Production Assistant: Will Hoffinger
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Post Production Coordinator: Ian Bryant
Supervising Editor: Doug Larsen
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
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![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
In 1998 a rogue Canadian weather balloon that was over '25 storeys' tall also fitted with solar panels flew over Russia when it got caught up in the jet stream. It was a high altitude balloon designed to monitor the ozone layer. Claiming the size of a balloon can't be a weather balloon because of it's size is just ignorance.
It was spying on me! My proof? It shut down my microwave oven while I was heating up my mayonnaise.
How did it get past the 7th fleet. And what was the celestial object still up there?
I don’t quite understand the part about “can it see inside your windows?” Wouldn’t the imaging device (or the balloon itself) need to be level with the window in order to see in it?
🌴☀️🌴
Maybe it could look through windows of houses at 45 degrees or more, maybe not the ones that are immediately below it
They don't need to look through windows, they have x-ray vision.can see through top of your house. You people don't realize the technology and dangerous technological weapons of war that has been created.
@@thebezierguyCorrect! It could theoretically look in windows that are at an angle but can’t look in the ones directly below.
Next time I go to a bday party, i'm definitely going to be looking at the balloons differently
Why would you ever use balloons for surveillance instead of satellites?
To test radar detection, for example.
with satellites u can take pictures of people like ants with a balloon that big u can probably take a HD picture of a fruit fly in our living room
*blloons
A balloon, such as the spy one, is capable of independent movement. It can change direction and course. Satellites are fixed in their orbits, and the effort/resources needed to put a satellite into orbit are considerable and obvious. There aren’t ‘secret’ satellites. All the governments capable of launching them and tracking are aware when a new one goes up.
Satellites don’t exist
-1,000,000 social credit
Lmfao🤣🤣🤣
Good thing he lives in the US
I enjoyed listening to him float a few theories by us.
this🥇
@LomogrammatonYou knows JoPo got a rise out of getting a reaction and ANY kind would do.
🌱🌿 ouch•Sorry
Nice to put a face to the best accent on SpyCast!
It's more than one month since they started the investigation, so what are the results? Instead of listening to some random guy 'debunking' theories, I'd really like to know some facts. Nice accent though.
Chinese could choose many different ways to spy or attack. They own most of the phones or make most of the parts we need for our machinery.
I'm sure this guy triggers plenty of right wingers. The way he presents facts and logic so calmly while politely referring to their wild conspiracy theories as myths is just top-notch.
Funny enough the left are the ones that usually blow up in arguments.
Such a meme, "Experts" LMAO
You are right though, it kinda triggered me a little bit, but I have to admit most of the conspiracys are just theroys, and alot of them are a bit far fetched
I mean it was a Chinese spy balloon. So, I doubt it.
The fact the he presents facts logically and in a calm manner made me think he leans conservatively to the right. You’ve been lied to my friend.
Its a balloon... how would the chinese control it going over specific sites?
It was floating extremely high up (5x consumer airlines) so satelite internet is readily available
@@FrotLopOfficial that does not answer the question
@@mimiwtcbb You can control a drone over satelite internet. This is basically a long range drone.
The only way to steer a balloon is to make it go up or down, into a layer of wind that is moving in the direction you want. It is not always guaranteed that there exists winds to where you need to go.
@@bgezal Its got massive solar panels that van very easily power a gas or electric turbine. Why is this giving so many people a stroke
Sometimes a balloon is just a balloon.
Love the Scottish accent
I thought Irish... was he drunk, no! So not irish!
Yeah, his accent provides great cover.
@@MAGA-time I'm disgusted by that stereotype, us Scots are drunk too.
@Stuart Fraser here's to you're honesty...! 🍻🍻🍻🥃🥃🥃
@@MAGA-time 😂 🍻
我们只希望世界和平
9 seconds into the video. I feel like I'm more inclined to trust this guy just by his accent alone.
This guy eats lucky charms
Yeah, his accent is great cover, isn't it?
@@FrotLopOfficial He's Scottish, not Irish.
"Over important air force bases... " I'd like to know how close it got. If you stretch the term "over" or "near" enough, you can't fly anywhere without being "over" or "near" any air force base. I'm 100 % sure it couldn't maneuver at all and any proximity to any base is pure coincidence. No, a balloon like that goes where the wind carries it, the shape and possible propulsion makes maneuvering impossible.
Maybe it was not a Spy Balloon after all.
Is a weather balloon dangerous ....then what about the space station(Space Laws)
This spy historian surely has a lot of significant things to say. There's so much we don't about spy balloons.
Remember to visit your parents regularly to maintain a reasonable social credit
A balloon could carry CBRN methods as well, it doesn’t have to be a bomb.
If it had anything like that on board you know DC would not shut up about it.
Think about it, they kept talking about Iraqi WMD for how long? And they weren't even there !
A detailed and informative look into the technology behind the Chinese spy balloon incident can be found here: ua-cam.com/video/u-Ao1TNOASU/v-deo.html
Gone. It is interessting that you don't find anything about the balloon over a year later. If it was a spy balloon I assume you could read it everywhere. That you find nothing about it after it was shot down is highly suspicious.
I think it was a weather balloon, as the chinese government said. The Government overreacted, created an incident and now try to erase the story.
If this was the situation I get it. It is really cringy and puts the US government in a bad light. Imagine the chinese concentration camps, are just prisons. The good guys have prisons, the baddies always have camps.
NENA predicted this 40 years ago
Why You need a dumb Balloon If You have Satellite 🙄
Satellite can’t deliver drones or biochemicals
My question was wasn't there a way for us to drop it without using a rocket I'm pretty sure we could have used RC copter.
Canada had shot down a balloon awhile back, and it didn't go well, and they're airforce was ridiculed for having to shoot the balloon multiple times. The US didn't want to take any chances, or portray weakness, so they used a $400,000 missle.
@@strayedarticle2838 I don't know but accomplishing to lower something and not break it is scary of its own. It shows precision and strength launching a rocket destroying the balloon was a more pathetic attempt to show fear. But whatever it accomplish the job.
Interesting, What lanuage is he speaking in?
I think he is speaking normally, but under butter.
He's speaking English with what sounds like a lovely Scottish accent to me
@@quirkyviper 1000% he is speaking English in the form of Lucky Charms
This is really interesting
Surprised the media did something like this.
never seen a UA-cam video say "no views"
Contact me on telegram for your reward 📦
it happens, you should keep an eye out for it and maybe you'll see it one day.
Every UA-cam video starts off with “no views”.
@@ConradNeill yeah but I've never SEEN it unless it was my own video
"mental gymnastics" lol.
Um, there's the American thing where they can drop missiles out of a cargo plane, sooo, this is their response? You don't need the plane, you have the balloon that could lazer guide the bombs... if its drifting that high up no one could detect it? it's like a slow moving cheaper b52, dunno the cost of the rig, but, rough estimate ar the higher end, cost for cost, 1 b52 would be a billion, balloon 20 million, so 1 b52 = 50 balloons?
these weren't real myths, jesus christ the click bait
Not today CIA , Nice try FBI
I love coming back around now to see the idiots that thought they were so smart calling it a weather ballon
Back at ya, its been confirmed its just a spy balloon. Dont get played.
So it is not a spy balloon? Cuz nothing spyish was found.
*blloon
What about Google earth?
If the USA does the same.... it's acceptable. Some other country does it. USA and the world loses it's sh*t
usa did it in 19 century
The Chinese leader killed millions of his own people
USA does that not in 20 century anymore and anyway this topic is so boring.
@@jksdo88 yeah right......
@@Mus-Doc just do your own research you don't have to listen to my opinion
OK Spy
Wow it already scanned half the air bases, great job. We found that norad failed its job and we gave them way to much info.
The slower the balloon goes the more info they get… this guy definitely works for China
No one is interested in what the Vice President is up to, ever.
Yo mamma
@@vicepresidentmikepence889 lol, sad but true.
"B L O O N S"
Frankly I'm disappointed that you tried to mask a political video as a technical video.
How was this even remotely political? Right wing conspiracy nut found
He is an expert in this field, not a politician or political commentator... Just because it contradicts certain people's views doesn't make it a political oriented video.
lost all respect for wired as a media publication after reading their hogwarts legacy review
That's a damned shame
Summary?
Huh? What does one have to do with the other?
Oh dear, which stance did they take with it?
Yeah but what about the other 3 ballons? Paranoic US or covering ohio train?
*blloons
Crazy how it took them AFTER it flew across the ENTIRE COUNTRY for them to finally shoot it down! Almost like they didn't wanna get in the way of Beijing's goals
Is the dajjal hypnotizing America?????
That accent... I'm melting 😍😍.
What was the point of this video?
that "it could be" means "it must be". that's what Wired do now.
Billions of spent on military, scared of balloon 😂
No one is scared of a balloon. It’s what the balloon represents that is concerning.
@@robertp457 lmao! Put your tinfoil hat on.
Meanwhile china is scared of attacking an island
japan will retake the kurils sakhalin and vladivostok south korea will take nroth koea.
For what?
Did Kamala write this non insightful word salad, debunking nothing and offering no real information pertaining to the balloon.
True
She's not that eloquent. Someone else did though.
Were you wanting the guy to have infiltrated the Chinese equivalent of the CIA for answers or something? This is informative on things that someone could plausibly gather information on at this time.
Wired cringe binge
Okay, I hear what he's saying, but our military isn't that dumb. Our news outlets, yes. However, balloons were used for recon during the Civil War here in the US. and during WWI by the Germans with their Zeppelins and even bombings before the Biplanes learned how to outfit their planes for weapons and bombings. I've been reading up for research on a book I'm writing. If I hadn't, this guy would probably make a lot of sense. 😃😃👋👋💖💖
Mann I'm getting Oaken vibes 🤣 I wanna watch Frozen now😭
-10000 social credit
Yes let’s be afraid of balloons ! Omg people are so silly 😂
look at the bigger picture
This kind of balloon is useless for pretty much everything except weather. Where it went was a coincidence because it cannot be steered! 😆
no it was too big to be a weather balloon. it could have picked up radio signals satellitea can't. and it was somewhat maneuverable, up down left right.
@@kngrfdegj5940 *woosh*
@@kngrfdegj5940 wouldn't a weather balloon need to be steered and also a way to transmit the recordings?
@@joe_moms_lover med to be started? what?
@@kngrfdegj5940 sorry, autocorrect
crap
Ohio, Ohio, Ohio!!!
Where's the cnn/the biden OUTRAGE... Such nonsense!!! 🤣🤣🤣