Nicholas Ourusoff lives in New London.

“American officials said that the surveillance device was shot down off the coast of the Carolinas after it spent the last week traversing the country. Chinese officials maintained that it was a weather balloon that had entered U.S. airspace by accident.” (New York Times, Feb. 4).

While American officials use the term “surveillance device,” the New York Times, without evidence, assumed the pejorative term “spy plane” no less than 11 times. They really beat it into us. Evidently, there is much more to the story. At first glance a bit comical (the idea of “open/ transparent” spying), but serious.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry offered an immediate apology, repeated frequently: “The airship is from China and is civilian in nature, used for meteorological and other scientific research. Due to the influence of westerly winds and its limited control capability, the airship deviated from its intended course. China regrets that the airship strayed into the United States by mistake due to force majeure. China will continue to maintain communication with the U.S. side to properly handle this accident.”

The Chinese claim that the balloon strayed “way off course” due to weather is more than credible. Winds were insanely high and unpredictable across the northern United States at that time.

Mt. Washington not only had the coldest wind chill ever recorded (-108F on February 3rd) but its observatory was forecasting 80 to 100 m.p.h. sustained winds. The Pentagon was aware that the balloon “…was remotely maneuverable to some degree but still dependent on the jet stream for travel.”

The New York Times article also reports that the U.S. is aware of Chinese surveillance balloons flying over several countries, including Canada, and straying into our country, three times under the Trump administration. A later report acknowledges that the “three times under the Trump administration” was only known about because it was discovered in an archive. And, in breaking news, this may have been a project of China’s National Liberation Army and involve 40 or more such balloons.

Were any of the balloons previously noted to be over U.S. territory shot down or the cause of a diplomatic incident? And has anyone protested other cases of Chinese balloons? How about the balloon discovered flying in Costa Rica airspace?

Is it credible to believe that a “spy balloon” was sent across the U.S. in plain sight for several days? The article states that senior officials remarked that the prolonged staying over U.S. territory was “unbelievable” and “robust” and that the Pentagon mentions that a balloon was unlikely to be used instead of a satellite for spying on U.S. national defense assets. A U.S. Department of Defense spokesman also said the airship did not pose any military or personal threat to ground personnel.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning repeated the country’s claim that the large unmanned balloon accidentally blew off course and the U.S. government overreacted by shooting it down, according to the Associated Press.

I agree. Shooting it down and canceling a trip to China was not a professional way to handle the situation.

Mr. President, U.S. House and Senate leaders, and bipartisan Foreign Relations Committee chairs, the world wants and needs diplomacy and peace.

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