A source familiar with the situation has told the international media that the alleged Chinese spy balloon that passed over the US earlier this year was able to take pictures and gather some signals intelligence from US military locations.
The US administration is still unsure if the Chinese government was able to erase the balloon’s data as it was being received, according to the source, who said that the balloon was capable of transmitting information back to Beijing in real time. The possibility that the balloon was able to gather intelligence that the US is currently unaware of raises doubts about its accuracy.
Although the information the balloon was able to collect is not significantly more sophisticated than what Chinese espionage agencies have been using, the intelligence community has not been very concerned about it, the individual claimed.
The US also knew what the balloon’s path would be and was able to move to protect sensitive sites and censor some signals before the balloon was able to pick them up, officials have said.
The FBI is still examining the balloon, but so far officials have been able to glean additional information about how the device worked, including the algorithms used for the balloon’s software and how it is powered and designed.
CNN has reached out to the National Security Council at the White House and the Pentagon for comment. NBC was first to report on the intelligence.