Pentagon Recommending Against Shooting Down Chinese Spy Balloon

Pentagon leaders have advised President Biden not to order the U.S. military to shoot down an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon that’s flying over the continental United States — but that position could change as the situations evolves, according to a senior Defense Department official.

The DOD has “very high confidence” that the recently spotted platform is a spy balloon from the People’s Republic of China, the official told reporters during a call on Thursday on condition of anonymity.

In a statement on Thursday, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said: “The balloon is currently traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a military or physical threat to people on the ground.”

He ad …