Chinese Balloon Spotted Last Fall Over Middle East, Top Air Commander Says

Chinese Balloon Spotted Last Fall Over Middle East, Top Air Commander Says
A ground controller salutes a F-16 fighter jet at Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey on March 7, 2003. Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Bill Pan
Bill Pan
Reporter
|Updated:
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A Chinese balloon was spotted floating over the Middle East by the U.S. forces stationed there last fall, but didn’t prompt any attempt to get a closer look at it, the top air commander for the region said Monday.

In the latest revelation of what appears to be a part of Chinese communist regime’s global airborne surveillance project, Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich told reporters that the balloon was deemed not a threat because it “did not go anywhere near any of our sensitive sites.”