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A Brief History of Spying With Balloons [1]

['Amanda Holpuch']

Date: 2023-02-03

A Chinese balloon seen hovering over Montana this week has been described as an “intelligence-gathering” airship by the Pentagon and a stray civilian research airship by China.

Whatever its intended use, the balloon offers a reminder of how for more than a century, governments have used balloons for surveillance and observation, most often during times of war.

Thomas Paone, the curator for the lighter-than-air collection at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, which includes balloons, blimps, and airships, said that while balloon technology has changed over that time, the mission of observation has been a constant.

Here’s a look at this history.

Both sides deployed them in the U.S. Civil War.

The Confederate and Union armies used tethered balloons to observe troop movements in what Mr. Paone said was the first organized military effort in the United States to use balloons for observation.

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[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/03/us/spy-balloon-history.html

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