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What Next | Daily News and Analysis

TBD | What Made the Balloon Drama Pop Off?

What Next | Daily News and Analysis

Slate

News, Daily News, News Commentary, Politics

4.62.3K Ratings

🗓️ 17 February 2023

⏱️ 36 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Come to think of it, a giant balloon seems like a pretty conspicuous way to spy on another country. So what was that Chinese spy balloon doing above the U.S.—and what have American planes been shooting down since? Guest: Shane Harris, Washington Post reporter covering intelligence and national security. Host: Lizzie O’Leary If you enjoy this show, please consider signing up for Slate Plus. Slate Plus members get benefits like zero ads on any Slate podcast, bonus episodes of shows like Slow Burn and Dear Prudence—and you’ll be supporting the work we do here on What Next TBD. Sign up now at slate.com/whatnextplus to help support our work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

Monso Business Banking. It just works. So you can too. Join businesses like Target

0:05.7

to Wishing by opening a Monso Business account.

0:07.7

What I love about Monso Business account is how easy everything is. It can be filtered,

0:12.8

it can be tagged. We thought we'd have to manage our business around our banks, but that's

0:17.3

not the case for Monso.

0:18.4

My name is Shun. I am the Founder of Target Trition.

0:21.6

Apply in minutes at Monso.com slash business. To apply you must be a sole trader or director

0:26.6

of a limited company, UK Business is only terms and conditions apply.

0:34.3

Would you like to say who you are?

0:36.0

Sure. I'm Shane Harris and I cover intelligence and national security for the Washington Post.

0:41.8

And I guess you are the unofficial what next TBD UFO correspondent. How do you feel about that?

0:48.6

I feel great about it. I feel great about it. I feel like this is all coming full circle

0:52.5

and happy to be wearing this hat today.

0:58.4

Two years ago, I had Shane on the show to talk about the intelligence community's big

1:02.7

report on UFOs or UAPs as they like to call them. Unidentified aerial phenomena.

1:09.7

It was the first time the military and intelligence agencies publicly laid out what they had seen

1:15.3

and couldn't quite identify in the sky. So naturally, I thought of Shane when the US started

1:21.4

shooting objects out of the sky, beginning on February 4th.

1:33.7

That's video of a US fighter jet shooting down the Chinese surveillance balloon.

1:39.2

Then from February 10th through the 12th, the US shot down three more unidentified flying objects.

1:46.0

One over the coast of Alaska, one over northern Canada, and one over Lake Huron.

1:51.1

In total, there were four things. Four things. Four objects.

...

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