According to anonymous sources, several Pentagon officials asked how soon they would be able to knock the balloon out of the sky, insisting it was a matter of national security.
"Come on, man! I'll let you shoot it down. Just let me check to make sure the Chinese have what they need and that the million-dollar check for Hunter's painting came through from my buddy Xi. Then, have at it, boys!"
Believe it or not, our allies - France is the biggest "culprit", spy on the US as much as our enemies. The US is just as guilty - the games our Governments play...what you sow (in the middle east) is what you reap... US is expert on surveillance/spying (secretly).
They used a Sidewinder missile on the bag. They said that bullets would have worked but had too short a range and thus would require the pilot to be too close to the balloon for safety. Long-range video showed that the payload dropped intact initially but broke apart due to stresses of a non-aerodynamic object falling through air.
An old unknown after-the-fact discovery (if true) should not detract today from the Biden administrations responsibility for accepting responsibility for its attempt to hide the balloon's incursion.He indicated that the intelligence community tracked those previous balloons after the incursions through “additional means.”