A clip regarding an explosion in the sky over Billings Montana, which is particularly where the Chinese spy balloon has been seen to hover over the region, has gone viral. However, according to the Daily Mail, local, state, and national officials have confirmed that the video was fake.
Explosion in the Sky?
According to Mirror, the clip shows a smoke trail that is followed by a strong flash and bang in Billings, Montana. This is specifically where a peculiar Chinese spy balloon was seen.
It was taken by Dolly Moore, who shared the clip on Twitter. Moore expresses that she spotted a jet move so swiftly and then saw an explosion in the sky.
The Daily Mail reports that last Friday Night, the US Department of Defense mentioned to Fox News that the clips that illustrate the Chinese spy balloon's explosions are fake.
This was shortly followed by an official statement from Billings. According to the statement, the local authorities express awareness over the circulating clip and the huge explosion. However, they also mention that their authorities were not called to any events that relate to such footage. Plane crash incidents were also not picked up.
With this, Governor Greg Gianforte and the Defense department were informed that the clip lacked substance.
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US Takes Down Chinese Spy Balloon
According to Forbes, the US took down the hovering Chinese spy balloon last Saturday.
The Daily Mail reports that this came after the department labelled the balloon as a breach of the sovereignty of the US, as the balloon moved over US territories at 60,000 feet. However, initially, the department expressed that the balloon would not be taken down due to how it was hovering over several sensitive areas.
Officials had previously expressed that the balloon is remarkably huge and that it poses risks due to its big size. They mention that taking it down may make debris precipitate and fall and lead to dangers for those on the ground.
The Daily Mail reports that senator Steve Daines of Montana warned that the spy balloon could have been aiming at the nuclear missile fields of the state. He mentioned to the Department of Defense that the state has a huge role when it comes to national security because of how it keeps nuclear missile silos.
The huge balloon has the size of three buses. It has also been previously speculated to hold bioweapons.
Forbes reports that the balloon was shot down just last Saturday by a fighter jet from the US Air Force. This followed an order of the president to take the balloon down without posing dangers to those on the land.
The Chinese spy balloon was specifically hit by a missile that was launched six nautical miles off the South Carolina waters. This was from an F-22 raptor that took off the Langley Air Force Base within Virginia.
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