CNN’s Jon Ostrower reported on Wednesday, August 9 that a Russian spy plane flew over the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and even the CIA.
With President Trump out of town and the nation’s eyes on North Korea, Politico suggested that the Russians may be trying to troll the president:
Russian spy plane buzzes D.C. https://t.co/pIUHexA0Bt pic.twitter.com/KlMBsCp9gB
— POLITICO (@politico) August 9, 2017
Calm down
The flyover was planned under the Treaty on Open Skies, a 15-year old agreement between the U.S., Russia and 33 other nations.
The 2002 Open Skies Treaty established a regime of unarmed aerial observation flights over the territories of its signatories. It’s designed to give all parties a “direct role in gathering information through aerial imaging on military forces and activities of concern to them.”
U.S. Department of State
Members of the U.S. Air Force were on board the plane.
And the Capitol Police announced the flyover hours earlier.
USCP say an "authorized low-altitude aircraft" will fly in "restricted airspace" today directly over the Capitol. Is a planned event.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) August 9, 2017
Whether the flyover of a giant chicken was part of the treaty has not been adequately explained.
(Fact check: It wasn’t.)
A giant rooster with perfectly coiffed hair has been inflated in a park behind the White House. https://t.co/nkfUKsDBvP pic.twitter.com/iuvwwdII1Z
— ABC News (@ABC) August 9, 2017
