After a Chinese balloon — which the Defense Department called a surveillance balloon — flew over Montana, where intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fields are located, Montana GOP Senator Steve Daines wrote an urgent letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin demanding a full security briefing.

After the balloon was detected, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and vice chair Joint Chief Gen. Christopher Grady recommended that no “kinetic action” be taken because of possible falling debris, defense officials stated.

“The fact that this balloon was occupying Montana airspace creates significant concern that Malmstrom Air Force Base (AFB) and the United States’ intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) fields are the target of this intelligence gathering mission,” Daines wrote. “Given the serious nature of the event, I am requesting a full security briefing from the administration on this situation. It is vital to establish the flight path of this balloon, any compromised U.S. national security assets, and all telecom or IT infrastructure on the ground within the U.S. that this spy-balloon was utilizing.”

Daines continued by noting that Montana housed the nuclear missile silos at Malmstrom Air Force Base, then stated bluntly, “I am alarmed by the fact that this spy balloon was able to infiltrate the airspace of our country and Montana.”

“There is no higher priority for your administration than the safety and security of the American people and it is imperative that your administration reassure them of that fact at this time,” he concluded.

The balloon was reported by several people in Billings, Montana on Tuesday. According to a senior defense official, the balloon had flown over the Aleutian Islands, then Canada, before reaching Montana, and was still flying over the U.S. on Thursday.

On Wednesday, all flights at Billings Logan International Airport were grounded for roughly two hours.

“You did see reports yesterday of a ground stop at Billings airport, and the mobilization of a number of assets including F 22s…in the event that a decision was made to bring this down while it was over Montana,” the senior defense official acknowledged. “So we wanted to make sure we were coordinating with civil authorities to empty out the airspace around that potential area…It was the judgment of our military commanders that we didn’t drive the risk down low enough that we didn’t take the shot.”

Montana GOP Gov. Greg Gianforte issued a statement saying, “I received an informational briefing yesterday on the situation involving a suspected Chinese spy balloon flying over Montana. From the spy balloon to the Chinese Communist Party spying on Americans through TikTok to CCP-linked companies buying American farmland, I’m deeply troubled by the constant stream of alarming developments for our national security.”

At the end of last month, a woman got a call from law enforcement, telling her they matched a 23andMe test that she took to a murder case that had gone cold.

Jackie Vadurro thought the homicide detectives were kidding around, but it turned out that they weren’t. The homicide case wasn’t recent, either — it was thirty-six years old.

“I was so taken aback,” Vadurro told the New York Post. 

“I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong,” she said, “But when the police call you about a murder, you’re like, ‘Oh my goodness, what am I involved in?’”

Vadurro spoke about the situation on social media, as well. She said that no one ever said the woman who was killed was missing and authorities don’t know who she is. She also has noted that officials have found out that she was a third or second cousin of the woman who died.

Detectives have also discovered that she was on Vadurro’s maternal side and officials think that she was her mother’s great-grandfather’s illegitimate child.

“Me and this Jane Doe share DNA, she’s part of me,” she said. “I’m glad that I’m able to bring her story to light, and hopefully [help] catch the horrible person who killed her.”

The story, while an interesting one, raises some general concerns about security and privacy of people’s personal information, especially when it comes to their biological information.

A 2018 report in Science noted that researchers were able to easily use DNA and other information to start with 1.3 million people and nail down who a person was to less than twenty individuals.  

And it’s not the first time DNA has been used to solve murder cases that were previously unsolvable. In 2020, authorities were able to catch an alleged murderer after his distant relative put her own DNA on GedMatch. 

“I didn’t really think anything would come of it,” Jessi Still said. “I just uploaded it on there. Kind of forgot about it.”

An investigator with the sheriff’s department reached out to Still over email and said she was a relative match to the person suspected of murdering Helene Pruszynski in 1980. 

“They told me that they had gotten [my DNA profile] from GedMatch. That I had shown up as the closest DNA relative to this person that was the murderer,” Still said. “First, I thought maybe it was a joke or a prank. I really didn’t know what to make of it. Nobody ever wants to think about being related to the killer. Which, of course, I don’t want either.”

They used her DNA information, among other tactics, to find and arrest James Clanton, to whom she is related via her father’s great, great, great grandparents. 

“It’s really just made me realize, like, everything is connected and it’s a small world,” she said.