Introduction
Sound: “At first, I thought it was a star, but I thought that was kind of crazy because it was broad daylight and when I looked at it, it was just too big to be a star.”
Angie: It’s not a bird or a plane, it’s a… Chinese spy balloon? It was caught flying over the United States this past week – and our government is not happy.
Plus – how this mom is making Super Bowl history. Those stories and more today on Notice News.
Chinese Spy Balloon Spotted Over the U.S.
Angie: Hey guys and happy Monday from Washington, I’m Angie. Our top story today: while this may look like a star or even a UFO, the U.S. government says it’s actually a Chinese spy balloon.
The balloon apparently entered American airspace near Idaho, flying over Montana, before making its way to the east coast. When it was no longer over land, the President ordered the balloon shot down off the coast of South Carolina.
This all happened just a few days before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was scheduled to travel to China to meet with President Xi Jinping. That trip was postponed on Friday.
The government mobilized fighter jets in the event they wanted to shoot the balloon out of the sky – but the Pentagon advised President Biden not to do that, because the falling debris could be dangerous.
It’s believed the balloon – which is the size of three buses – may have been trying to get a look at several military targets – like some of our nation’s nuclear missile silos in the northwest.
All of this could put further strain on the already tense relationship between the U.S. and China.
Sound: “it’s not clear that it is going to see anything more of the United States that the Chinese satellites already see. So the timing is unusual and in many respects unfortunate. President Biden has talked about keeping lines of communication open to the Chinese government and Secretary Blinken’s trip to the People’s Republic of China in the coming days was part of that effort, so this creates a complication for both the United States and China to discuss and it’s an unfortunate provocation.”
The Chinese, though, say it was just for weather research and strayed off course. They warned against “speculation and hype.”
Headlines
Angie: Here’s what else is making news right now.
A major winter storm gripped most of the country last week with ice covering parts of Texas, while wind chills in New England hit negative 100 degrees atop New Hampshire’s Mount Washington.
Pope Francis visited the world’s youngest country, South Sudan, over the weekend. Since becoming an independent country in 2011, the central-African nation has been gripped by a civil war. It’s believed an estimated 400,000 have died in the violence there since 2013.
And – this kid from Michigan has *not* been a good boy. His parents say he ordered one thousand dollars in fast food off Grubhub last weekend, under the guise of using his dad’s phone before bed.
And now let’s send it to Brooklyn where Jonathan has our next story.
Mom Makes Super Bowl History
Jonathan: Across all ages and all sports, parents cheering for their kid’s teams’ is nothing new. But one mom will be cheering for both during the Super Bowl this Sunday.
Sonna Kelce’s son Jason plays for the Philadelphia Eagles, and her other son Travis plays for the Kansas City Chiefs, playing each other in the Super Bowl on February 12th.
According to the pro football hall of fame, Donna’s the first mother to ever have two sons play against each other in the Super Bowl, putting her in an interesting dilemma.
Sound: “It’s your hopes and dreams coming true, but it’s your worst fears, somebody is going to go home a loser, and neither one of them lose very well.”
In the past, Donna has made an effort to see both of her sons play, sometimes seeing multiple games in a day with a cross country flight in between. And – in case you’re not a football fan – Jason and Travis are both key players for their respective teams.
Jason plays center, who makes the call on the offensive line, and Travis is a tight end, which blocks or receives the offense. As for who she’s rooting for, Donna said this:
Sound: “The offense, anytime somebody has the ball.”
Conclusion
That’s it for today but you can learn more about that suspected Chinese spy balloon on our website, noticenews.com.
And – a special programming note – I’ll have the very latest on our Wednesday episode from the president’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.
Jonathan will be back tomorrow with more from us, Notice News.