Why is the US paranoid over a balloon?

Smith

At around 60,000 ft, the balloon was far beyond US airspace. It was just a wandering weather balloon which was blown off-course by unpredictable wind and reached the US. Furthermore, neither Trump nor Biden administration did anything during the previous 4 flyovers, which indicates the balloons did not pose any security threat to the US. The politicians could be solving things diplomatically instead of hyping up a confrontation. Given the complex world situation where cooperation is needed more than ever, the worst strategy for the US is to escalate things like it is doing.