Here's what the head of U.S. Northern Command said about the Chinese spy balloon & payload

Doug P. | 3:50 PM on February 06, 2023

Last week the Chinese spy balloon (some claimed it was an off-course weather balloon but you’ll see why that’s definitely not the case soon) was allowed to enter U.S. airspace and travel over Alaska, then Canada, and back into the U.S. where it floated to the southeast for several days. Once the balloon was over the Atlantic off the Carolina coast, it was brought down.

Now more is being discovered about the size of the payload as well as what that consisted of:

NEW: U.S. assesses the Chinese spy balloon was up to 200 feet tall: DoD

Equipment aboard the balloon, including photographic material, and possible explosives was as big as a regional jet, potentially 1,000-2,000 pounds: Gen. Glen Van Herck.

— Jack Detsch (@JackDetsch) February 6, 2023

JUST IN – Chinese spy airship potentially carried explosives to destroy itself, commander of the U.S. Northern Command says.

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) February 6, 2023

Chinese spy balloon carried EXPLOSIVES to destroy itself https://t.co/PagMfrHZut pic.twitter.com/17Whs8JEmK

— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) February 6, 2023

From the Daily Mail:

As Navy divers work to recover debris from the downed Chinese spy balloon, a top general said Monday that the U.S. is investigating whether it was carrying explosives, describing it as 200-feet tall, weighing thousands of pounds and with a payload the size of a jetliner.

‘So I can’t confirm whether it had explosives or not. Anytime you down something like this, we make an assumption that that potential exists,’ said Air Force Gen. Glen D. VanHerck, commander of U.S. Northern Command, on a briefing call with reporters.

VanHerck had floated to reporters that a capability could exist for the balloon to have explosives to destroy itself, but no ‘threat to dropping weapons.’