On the day before the Chinese Spy Balloon first entered United States Airspace, a government plane landed in Myrtle Beach; the site of its eventual demise.

The aircraft, a Boeing C-32A, is modified for VIP transport, typically used by senior military leaders and the vice president, sometimes the president, and is outfitted with equipment capable of handling all their needs, including transmitting the order for the use of nuclear weapons.

Its arrival coincides with various other military, civilian and intelligence community assets that arrived in the days before the balloon’s presence overhead, though all appear to be part of unrelated training missions. According to conflicting statements by military leaders, the balloon could and could not have been capable of directing its path of flight. Officially, the government had no idea where on the East Coast the balloon would end up.

The town is home to the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, which itself featured a never-publicly-revealed bunker under the airport that was officially decommissioned when the complex was deactivated with the 1991 National Defense Authorization Act. The base was linked to the National Command Authority by both radio and fiber links, the latter of which was never officially recognized, instead serving the mundane purpose of facilitating financial transactions for major banking institutions. The base was prepared during the Cold War to respond to Soviet Subs that came near or breached American territorial sea – 12 nautical miles, that were armed with nuclear weapons to launch a first strike against U.S. cities and military bases, greatly lowering the time of impact and putting America’s ability to respond at full volley at considerable risk.

Other aircraft, such as the Boeing P-8 Poseidon, a maritime patrol and reconnaissance plane, which is capable of anti-submarine as well as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, in addition to fighter aircraft were also operating training missions in and around Myrtle Beach in the days before the balloon’s eventual arrival.

On the same day the C-32A landed in Myrtle Beach, the military was operating an exercise of four E-6Bs and two E-4Bs, planes whose purpose is to ensure that orders of nuclear launch can be executed even in contested or hostile environments. The government also had in the air a yet-to-be-revealed craft capable of penetrating deep into enemy airspace, which is tasked in part with eliminating deeply buried nuclear resilient bunkers without being detected or intercepted, ensuring total emeny destruction as a response to a surprise nuclear first-strike against the United States.

The Chinese Spy Balloon overflight of the Continental United States came at a time of increased America-China relations.

The general consensus is that China will move on Taiwan at some point in the near future, likely within the next decade, either by full-on amphibious invasion or via a bombardment of rockets and cruise missiles, each supported with cyber and infrastructure attacks.

One of the most plausible dates for an attack to commence is while the President of the United States is delivering the State of the Union, which would occur in the mid-morning in Asia, China-Taiwan time, 13 hours ahead of Washington, D.C.

Opinions vary considerably as to the extent China would preemptively strike the United States, or if they would at all, but those concerns are deeply held within the United States Government. Both the Trump and Biden Administrations have made statements of support for militarily defending Taiwan. Chinese officials have made clear that any direct assistance would be met with attacks on U.S. Carriers, as well as American bases in Japan, and other potential targets, such as Guam, a United States territory.

The loss of Taiwanese semiconductor facilities would all but plunge America’s economy, which relies heavily on the availability of the world’s most advanced commercial chips for everything from the iPhone to artificial intelligence. If China and the United States were to get into a direct conflict, such as over Tawain, the world economy would all but be jolted into a depression as the two enact sanctions on one another and target each other’s shipping lanes.

The Chinese Balloon was in part looking to further advance China’s intelligence on underground facilities, which would be used in a state-to-state conflict between the nuclear powers. While never officially acknowledged, the United States has a vast network of bunkers, both conventional and those hardened against direct nuclear attack.

When contractors were working on what is now the Myrtle Beach International Airport, they observed and came into contact with underground facilities at the former Air Force base that were never officially acknowledged or declassified. A Veterans Affairs clinic was recently built near the airport, and conventional government buildings are often colocated with bunkers throughout the United States, acting as a quasi-cover.

Fiber lines connect the town to other locations of importance, east to Wilmington and west to Florence, both of which have military purposes; officially the lines support the communication of financial data for big banking institutions. The fiber network in Myrtle Beach works on a ring-branch path, ensuring that if the community is destroyed, communications between Wilmington and Florence, and the greater military command structure, can be maintained.

Recently, and in the years to follow, Myrtle Beach will become a hub for commercial communications, connected to Europe and South America by submarine cables, and linked to data centers in Atlanta.

On Thursday, January 26, 2023, a United States C-32A, registration 99-0004, flew into Joint Base Andrews in the late evening, outside of the nation’s capital, displaying the call sign SAM138, representing it was on a Special Air Mission. Roughly 14 hours later, it took off, displaying callsign VENUS94, commonly used to display a training mission. It then flew south to Raleigh, North Carolina, where it circled the Raleigh-Durham International Airport.

It then traveled further south to Horry County, South Carolina, circling the Grand Strand Airport in North Myrtle Beach before flying west to the Myrtle Beach International Airport, where it would also circle multiple times, ultimately landing.

The next day, the Chinese Spy Balloon was first detected over U.S. airspace in Alaska; the public wouldn’t know about its existence for a few more days when it entered the Contiguous United States.

While traversing the country, the balloon flew over multiple military bases, including Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, home of the 341st Missile Wing, in which it was reported to have flown multiple figure-eight formations around the site. It is one of three U.S. Air Force Bases that operates, maintains and secures the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, commonly known as an ICBM.

While the public was told about interventions against the balloon, other events and activities have been withheld in the objective of peace; unfound Chinese aggression is to blame.

Tensions between the two countries are now at an all-time high, with many believing that China may soon move on Tawain, putting the two nuclear powers in direct conflict.

With a presidential election looming in the United States and the economy failing in China, some believe an attack could occur as early as this year. If so, a potential date of attack is in early March during the annual State of the Union. It is one of the few times a year when the government’s presidential line of succession is most vulnerable and would ensure a delayed decision by the United States to support Tawain, giving China the optimal window for a surprise overwhelming first-strike on the island.

Blackwater Founder Erik Prince, a defense industry expert and former Navy SEAL, for example, is just one of many who have publically said they believe China will attack Taiwan in early 2024. China’s President, Xi Jinping, has told his country to prepare for a conflict and the nation’s reserves of everything from foodstuffs to fossil fuels have been increased recently, indicating preparedness for upcoming shortfalls.

There is no guarantee that President Biden would authorize the defense of Tawain, which would result in the likely death of American soldiers and contractors. If China waits a few years, when the new leading-edge fabs are up and running in the United States, their ability to harm the American economy with an assault on the island diminishes exponentially; the country is also facing an exodus of American investment and manufacturing as leaders of industry anticipate a Chinese economic collapse and further potential military escalations.