The Chinese spy balloon that flew over America almost one year ago reportedly used an American internet provider to communicate with its home country.

From NBC News. U.S. intelligence officials have determined that the Chinese spy balloon that flew across the U.S. [last] year used an American internet service provider to communicate, according to two current and one former U.S. official familiar with the assessment.

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The balloon connected to a U.S.-based company, according to the assessment, to send and receive communications from China, primarily related to its navigation. …

The Biden administration sought a highly secretive court order from the federal Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to collect intelligence about it while it was over the U.S., according to multiple current and former U.S. officials. How the court ruled has not been disclosed.

Such a court order would have allowed U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct electronic surveillance on the balloon as it flew over the U.S. and as it sent and received messages to and from China, the officials said, including communications sent via the American internet service provider.

The company denied that the Chinese balloon had used its network, a determination it said was based on its own investigation and discussions it had with U.S. officials. …

Chinese intelligence officials have covertly used commercially available service providers in various countries in the past, often as backup communication networks, according to multiple former U.S. officials. …

The previously unreported U.S. effort to monitor the balloon’s communications could be one reason Biden administration officials have insisted that they got more intelligence out of the device than it got as it flew over the U.S.

Senior administration officials have said the U.S. was able to protect sensitive sites on the ground because they closely tracked the balloon’s projected flight path. The U.S. military moved or obscured sensitive equipment so the balloon could not collect images or video while it was overhead. …

After the balloon was shot down, a senior State Department official said that it was used by China for surveillance and that it was loaded with equipment able to collect signals intelligence.

The balloon had multiple antennas, including an array most likely able to collect and geolocate communications, the official said. It was also powered by enormous solar panels that generated enough power to operate intelligence collection sensors, the official said.

Defense and intelligence officials have said the U.S. assessment is that the balloon was not able to transmit intelligence back to China while it was over the U.S. …

This adds shocking context to a story that many had all but forgotten about. Share this article to bring this news to others.

(Excerpt from NBC News. Photo Credit: Chase Doak – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons)