The suspected Chinese spy balloon that’s been spotted over U.S. airspace in recent days has been shot down near the Carolina coastline, officials said.
An operation was underway to recover debris from the balloon in the Atlantic Ocean. A livestream of the balloon showed it deflated and falling toward the water below.
Earlier on Saturday, when President Biden was asked about the possibility of shooting it down, he told reporters: “We’re gonna take care of it.”
Soon after, the Federal Aviation Administration shut down three airports in both North and South Carolina “to support the Department of Defense in a national security effort.”
The balloon, which was first spotted by civilians in Montana on Wednesday, was described by the Pentagon as a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon. China’s Foreign Ministry, however, claimed it was being used for weather research and had blown off course.
Said to be around the size of two to three buses, the balloon — floating at an altitude of around 60,000 feet — flew over Canada and Alaska’s Aleutian Islands before being spotted in the continental United States. It then made its way eastward, being spotted across the country before it was shot down on Saturday afternoon.
The U.S. had been tracking the balloon since at least Tuesday, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. She said that’s when Biden was first briefed on the situation. Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said officials had been observing the balloon via multiple methods, including piloted aircraft, for a number of days.
Citing U.S. officials, the Associated Press reported that Biden initially wanted to shoot the balloon down — but he was warned against it because of concerns about the damage it could cause.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken abruptly canceled a visit to Beijing to meet with his counterpart, Wang Yi, telling him in a phone call sending the balloon to the states was “an irresponsible act and a clear violation of U.S. sovereignty and international law that undermined the purpose of the trip.”
While Chinese officials claimed the balloon was used for meteorological purposes, the Pentagon called it a “surveillance” object. The balloon flew over Montana — home to one of the United States’ three nuclear missile silo fields, at Malmstrom Air Force Base. A senior defense official said the U.S. is confident the balloon was being flown over sensitive sites to collect information.
Defense officials confirmed later on Friday that a second suspected Chinese spy balloon was spotted flying above Latin America.
Yahoo News
