For subscribers
Has a balloon made the world a more dangerous place?
The short answer: No. But things will be rocky for some time to come.
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FBI special agents processing remnants from the Chinese balloon at a laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, on Feb 9.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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An alarm blares at a combat airbase. Fighter pilots leap into action; there is an unknown object bearing 220 degrees and within 60 nautical miles.
Their jets soar, and a pilot soon spots a white spherical object. His commanders determine that it could be a high-altitude spy balloon that will threaten air defence security, and orders him to shoot it down.
