A report written by the Air Force in April 2022 described the flight of a Chinese balloon that circumnavigated the globe, floating by the Hawaiian islands and transiting Florida in 2019 without any alarm raised by the Trump Administration, CNN reports. The existence of a report from that era shows the American national security apparatus was aware of the Chinese balloon program prior to this month’s intrusion into US airspace.
The report was part of an intelligence assessment of Chinese intelligence capability, parts of which were provided to CNN. The assessment notes that China was developing a balloon program that could operate between altitudes of 65,000 and 350,000 feet, the edge of space (or actual space, depending on what definition you use). The 2019 circumnavigation of the globe reportedly was done largely around 65,000 feet.