Friday morning’s Pentagon press briefing offered some new information about the Chinese spy balloon US officials are allowing to remain over the central part of the continental United States, and the response to reporters’ questions only served to communicate to Beijing that they are in full control of what’s happening here.

Brigadier General Pat Ryder refused to give an exact location of the craft, saying that it’s “classified,” even though people can look up in the sky and see the thing, while passengers in commercial aircraft can view it as they fly by, and even though he admitted that the balloon has a heavy “payload” underneath it – which puts civilians on the ground at risk should it suddenly crash. As Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin commented immediately after the briefing, since the balloon is traveling at an altitude of 60,000 feet, if there was a sudden loss of power and it came crashing down, it would come down at “meteoric speed,” and would maim/injure/kill civilians if it came down over a populated area while producing a large debris field.

The Pentagon is providing next to no new information on the Chinese spy balloon. pic.twitter.com/3jOYeIePdV

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 3, 2023

As we reported, by Friday morning the Chinese government claimed ownership of the balloon but essentially said, “Our bad – so sorry it drifted into your airspace. Can we get it back, please?” and claimed it had agricultural purposes. We all know that’s a complete lie. While not outright verbalizing it, the US government’s response seems to communicate, “Sure, pal, and we’ll be sure to make sure you get it back unscathed.”

Amazingly, reporters pressed the Pentagon for more information, reminding Ryder that the public has the right to know. His response…

REPORTER: "Does the public not have the right to know…?"

PENTAGON: "The public certainly has the ability to look up in the sky and see where the balloon is." pic.twitter.com/3mLU3BQTRQ

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 3, 2023

Gee, thank you.

REPORTER: "Is there any way you could give us more details…?"

PENTAGON: "That information is classified…I can confirm that there have been other incidents where balloons did come close to or cross over U.S. territory." pic.twitter.com/2Ac01EVjW6

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 3, 2023

Ryder did say that it is “unacceptable” for the spycraft to be in US airspace, and that the government has communicated this to Beijing at multiple levels.

As Joe Cunningham reported earlier, there are reports of a second balloon over Canada. It cannot be allowed into our airspace.