[sgh]

I read some conspiracy theory why balloon is not shot down. Balloon is constantly sending encrypted signals back to China possibly and US want to take this chance to capture those data and attempt to break it. So keep balloon up is crucial at least until it can break and decode those encrypted signals. Also to trace the signal destination etc. If that is true not a bad tactical move on US part. But China supporters say this is a trap maybe China defence got alternative encrypted signals and destination. This balloon is to trick US tracing and probing into the wrong direction.