How big was the suspected Chinese spy balloon? 200 feet tall, U.S. says
The suspected Chinese spy balloon the U.S. shot down was 200 feet tall — roughly four times the size of the Snoopy balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
The suspected Chinese spy balloon that the U.S. shot down over the weekend was 200 feet tall, officials said Monday — or roughly four times the size of the Snoopy balloon at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.
Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) and U.S. Northern Command, told reporters in a briefing that the balloon that slowly made its way across the U.S. last week before being brought down on Saturday was also carrying a payload that was similar in size to a regional jetliner.
The payload “probably weighs in excess of a couple thousand pounds,” VanHerck said.
Republicans and some Democrats have criticized President Joe Biden for failing to bring down the balloon earlier, but VanHerck said in this instance size did matter.
The height of the balloon — comparable to a 20-story building or over twice as tall as the 2022 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree — and the size of the payload were factors in the “decision-making process” to wait to shoot it down until it was over the Atlantic Ocean, he said.
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