Spy Balloons & Aircraft — A Fascinating History

Military Balloons: 9,000 Floated To the US, 500 To USSR!

Although China won’t admit it, its huge balloon hovering over the United States, in plain view of ordinary Americans, was a huge geopolitical blunder. To boot, that we shot it down and were able to confirm it was equipped with spying equipment, which negated their claim that it was just a weather balloon, has internationally undermined their credibility.

But we have had our own share of blunders. First, we kept on sending reconnaissance balloons over the Soviet Union, until they told us to stop it. Second, our “weather” plane (no doubt similar to China’s “weather” balloon), was shot down over the Soviet Union. This is the infamous story of the U-2 spy plane, which became a major embarrassment for the Eisenhower administration.

To get the full U-2 story and much more about aerial reconnaissance, I spoke with Dr. Tim Schultz, Associate Dean of Academics at the US Naval War College. Prior to this, Dr. Schultz served as the Dean of the United State Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies. And prior to his teaching career, he was a U-2 pilot. Dr. Schultz is a retired colonel of the United States Air Force and was the Commander of the 1st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, which is a U-2 combat squadron.