Residents of the United States have been surprised to learn that Chinese spy balloons flew over the US undetected by the military during the Trump administration. The new revelation was made Monday by Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), who confirmed the US military missed at least three of the balloon incursions.

VanHerck cited a “domain awareness gap” as the reason why the previous flights were not mentioned to senior Trump officials at the time. Later, the intelligence community determined the flights occurred using “additional means of collection.” Questions are now being asked about why the military did not shoot down the latest balloon off the coast of South Carolina before it started its mission.

VanHerck answered that the balloon in question “did not present a physical military threat to North America” and so lacked any “hostile act or