The U.S. military has shot down the suspected Chinese spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean after it drifted off the East Coast near the Carolinas.
The US military has shot down the Chinese surveillance balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, a US official says. https://t.co/5wSVEMV7IA
— CNN (@CNN) February 4, 2023
From CNN:
The balloon was first spotted over the continental US several days ago, according to the Pentagon, but officials deemed it too dangerous to shoot down over land.
US officials say the balloon was being used for surveillance, rejecting China’s claim that it is a civilian research aircraft. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken postponed a trip to China in response to the sightings.
Meanwhile, another Chinese spy balloon has been spotted over Latin America, the Pentagon said Friday evening.
According to Fox News, President Joe Biden gave the order to shoot the balloon down on Wednesday but Pentagon officials advised against it, warning the potential risk to people on the ground outweighed the assessment of potential Chinese intelligence gains.
CNN’s Jim Scuitto reports U.S. officials were able to block the balloon from gathering intel during its flight over the country while U.S. military was able to gather intel on the balloon itself.
Read more at CNN.
Notable: US officials say they were able to block the balloon from gathering intel during its overflight of the US, while the US military was able to turn the tables, so to speak, to gather intel on the balloon itself and its equipment.
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) February 4, 2023
Fox News airs live footage of the Chinese spy balloon coming down after it was shot.
“First of all, well done!” Gen. Jack Keane exclaims while watching it float down. pic.twitter.com/QYkxQhJpNf
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) February 4, 2023