After being shot down Saturday at 2:30, a Chinese balloon has sparked the interest of the entire country. Worry of a balloon in the sky is something most would believe might have happened during the medieval period, not during the 21st century. While it might seem outlandish at first, the spotting of a Chinese balloon flying over the United States, where it might have flown over critical information, makes it seem more plausible for the alarm across the nation. 

After being shot down, finding out what the balloon’s true purpose was is on top priority for the US.

Reports state that the balloon went over critical military bases and across major portions of the United States until being shot down over the Atlantic, off the coast of South Carolina. Understanding this then it is very plausible that the true purpose of the balloon is to spy on the US military operations, and if so then stopping further balloons and properly diplomacy is a must in the future to combat spying. This is important to keep the integrity of the United States’ own privacy and land is a necessity for the country, especially against other countries that the US is butting heads with. 

Reports from China indicate that it could be a different story. Their story is that it could be a passenger balloon, most likely weather related. If that were the case then it being taken down most likely would not have caused an initial reaction of severe condemnation, but it could also be confusion from shooting something down during tense times. Whether the case, taking down the balloon was still the best option, but possibly capturing it instead of destroying it may have been better on the US side.

All together keeping in form is best and making sure to quell the tide with the CCP will be a major diplomatic play to make sure this does not boil over. Destroying the balloon may not have been the most effective scenario but taking care of it before it became an issue in a major run was a decent choice. Making sure that an incident, whether intentional or not, never happens again is now the play that the US government took in order to keep the integrity of the US intact.

Keeping on the tide without taking down the balloon in some way would not have been a good idea and now it’s time to find out fully the full intentions of the balloon now. The US is now in a position to either directly or indirectly respond to a breach in international security, where it must make sure that the US keeps its privacy and integrity.