{"id":93835,"date":"2023-02-10T08:35:06","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T05:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/?p=93835"},"modified":"2023-02-10T08:37:08","modified_gmt":"2023-02-10T05:37:08","slug":"chinese-high-altitude-balloon-recovery-behind-the-bureaus-role-as-the-lead-governing-agency-for-the-forensic-examination-of-the-chinese-high-altitude-balloon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/?p=93835","title":{"rendered":"FBI Chinese High-Altitude Balloon Recovery Behind the Bureau\u2019s role as the lead governing agency for the forensic examination of the Chinese high-altitude balloon"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York – Rashad Alkhader – Free Yemen Eye – From News FBI<\/p>\n

Chinese High-Altitude Balloon Recovery
\nBehind the Bureau\u2019s role as the lead governing agency for the forensic examination of the Chinese high-altitude balloon<\/p>\n

FBI Special Agents assigned to the Evidence Response Team process material recovered from the high-altitude balloon recovered off the coast of South Carolina. The material was processed and transported to the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.<\/p>\n

In a news briefing on Thursday, senior FBI officials detailed the Bureau\u2019s role as the lead governing agency for the forensic examination of the Chinese high-altitude balloon identified and shot down February 5 by the U.S. military off the coast of South Carolina.<\/p>\n

The Operational Technology Division and the Laboratory Division are working closely with subject matter experts from the Department of Defense and other government agencies. Additionally, personnel from the FBI\u2019s Washington, Columbia, Charlotte, and Norfolk field offices have deployed personnel, including ERT- and USERT-trained agents, to assist with the logistics of the recovery and analysis of the debris.<\/p>\n

Michael Paul, assistant director of the Operational and Technology Division (OTD), and Eric Pokorak, assistant director of the Laboratory Division, said it is too early in the investigation to determine the intent and capabilities of the balloon.<\/p>\n

Pokorak said much of the evidence remains underwater and that the FBI is coordinating further searches with the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard. Dive teams from the FBI and U.S. Navy are working together.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were on-scene late Sunday, on February 5, and the first evidence that was received was transported to Quantico and received late Monday, February 6,\u201d he explained. Pokorak described the search area as a \u201clarge-scale scene\u201d and said weather concerns in the next few days \u201cmay impact\u201d evidence collection and the transportation of recovered items.<\/p>\n

\"FBI
FBI technical and forensic experts from the FBI’s Science and Technology Branch positioned for incoming evidence.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once the evidence is received at the FBI Laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, a team of experts engages in a decontamination process, Pokorak continued. \u201cIn simple terms, that is removing the salt water from the evidence itself. Rinsing and washing it so that it can be further processed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The evidence recovered so far has been limited to surface findings, including the balloon (or canopy itself) some wiring, a tiny amount of electronics\u2014but only a small portion of the payload.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have not seen the payload where we expect to see the lion\u2019s share of the electronics,\u201d said Paul. \u201cOTD deployed specialists to assist with screening and to specifically assess electronic components that might be recovered during the operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said this investigation marks the first time the FBI Laboratory and OTD have responded to a \u201chot air balloon of this nature\u201d and the processing of the corresponding scene. Paul said no \u201cenergetic or offensive material\u201d has been detected but emphasized much of the evidence has yet to be recovered.<\/p>\n

Asked about the manufacturer of the balloon or whether its design was based on stolen intelligence, Paul said the FBI is not in position \u201cat this point to have that information.\u201d He said both the FBI Laboratory and OTD are working to determine the source of the balloon components. Additionally, the FBI has no information or physical evidence (at this time) that contradicts previous statements made by other government agencies.<\/p>\n

The Laboratory Division leads the collection, transportation, and subsequent forensic examinations of evidentiary material. It is staffed with subject matter experts, including highly trained evidence response dive teams and hazardous evidence response teams, which contribute to the mission of collecting, analyzing, and sharing timely scientific and technical information within the FBI and with other government and law enforcement agencies.<\/p>\n

The OTD is the FBI\u2019s provenance for applied technology enabling and enhancing investigations. OTD personnel have been deployed to assist with recovery efforts and initial assessments of technological evidence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York – Rashad Alkhader – Free Yemen Eye – From News FBI Chinese High-Altitude Balloon Recovery Behind the Bureau\u2019s role as the lead governing agency for the forensic examination of the Chinese high-altitude balloon FBI Special Agents assigned to the Evidence Response Team process material recovered from the high-altitude balloon recovered off the coast …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":93837,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diverse-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=93835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/93837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=93835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=93835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fye-yemen.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=93835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}