//The Wire//1500Z February 24, 2024//

//ROUTINE//

//BLUF: NO NEW DETAILS ON BALLOON. CHINESE ILLEGAL ALIEN ENCOUNTERS REACH NEW RECORD IN CA.//

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-International Events-

Red Sea/HOA: Over the past few days, CENTCOM has intensified “self-defense” targeting of Houthi sites in Yemen. As has become standard, almost zero information is released regarding these strikes, which have now become routine daily events.

-Homefront-

PA: A chemical incident at a pharmaceutical packing plant in Lehigh County resulted in over 50 workers suffering minor injuries. No word yet on what the chemical was, but most of the people affected reported headaches and respiratory problems. The cause of the incident has not been disclosed.

CA: Customs and Border Patrol statistics released last night indicate that the pace at which Chinese immigrants are encountered attempting to cross the border illegally has increased substantially over the past quarter. In one California district there were more Chinese immigrants illegally crossing the southern U.S. border than Mexicans. Newly released data indicates that since October of last year, 21,000 encounters with Chinese nationals were reported, whereas in the same sector only 18,700 Mexicans were encountered. AC: As the overwhelming majority of illegal immigrants no longer originate from Mexico (but rather other Central or South American nations), it is unclear as to how this affects the total numbers. As a reminder, recent DHS testimony before Congress has indicated that over 85% of all illegal encounters result in the illegal alien being released into the United States, rather than being deported.

Washington D.C. – No new information has been released by the Pentagon regarding the possibly hostile aircraft over American soil. Pentagon officials continue to claim that both the origin and the intent of the craft is unknown, yet somehow also assessed to be not a threat. AC: As defense officials seem content with leaking information to mainstream sources so as to maintain deniability, rather than calling press briefings to inform the American people, no mainstream media source has updated their articles on this incident at the time of this report. All MSM reporting is circular, originating from the original CBS report.

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Analyst Comments: The timing of the announcement of the unidentified balloon is itself a classic deception tactic. Pentagon officials frequently refer to this as “taking out the trash”, in other words releasing a stack of unimportant press statements on a Friday afternoon when reporters are ready to go home for the weekend (and therefore are assumed to be more complacent than usual). Sneaking critically important reports into the “garbage” and hoping that no one notices has been a tactic utilized heavily by various federal agencies for decades. Releasing critical reports on a Friday afternoon also allows for politicians to have more leeway in providing statements, as the expectation of “traveling” or weekend life enables key figures to hide more effectively from the press.

Releasing this info on a Friday afternoon also decreases the potential citizens that could observe the craft, and pinpoint it’s location. As most people would be enjoying the start of their weekend, and with nightfall approaching, the timing of the report ensured that by the time any citizen was able to visually see the craft, it would be long out to sea and out of sight. As a reminder, the DoD never released any updated or high-resolution photos of the initial string of spy balloons, only low-res or ground-based photos were provided to taxpayers. 

Analyst: S2A1

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