[labster]

What evidence do we have that these balloons are of terrestrial origin, other than Occam’s razor? It could be Venusians, who have experience building lighter than aircraft for their floating cities. Other than how wildly improbable it is, the alien theory still makes more sense than the CCP thinking balloon espionage is a pretty neat idea.

[ksherlock]

There's no released info on the second or third but China acknowledged ownership of the first balloon (as an errant weather balloon) and complained when it was destroyed. Remains of the balloon were recovered and the Chinese companies that built the balloon were identified. None of that behavior is consistent with a Venusian origin.