(Trends Wide) — The US military shot down China’s suspected spy balloon over the Atlantic Ocean, a US official said.
The specific method by which the balloon was shot down is still unclear, but the order was given by President Joe Biden and was introduced and supported by the military leadership, according to the US official who spoke to Trends Wide.
The spy balloon was first spotted in the sky over Montana earlier this week and traveled across the center of the country following weather patterns before leaving the continental United States on Saturday.
On Saturday at noon Biden had affirmed that his government would take over the alleged spy balloon, speaking from Syracuse, New York, where he visits his family. Hours later, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) order closed three airports and restricted airspace over North and South Carolina “in support of the Department of Defense.” The FAA has extended the order until 5:15 pm ET.
Navy and Coast Guard assets were standing by as any possible recovery efforts were necessary, a defense official told Trends Wide before the balloon was shot down.
This Thursday the United States reported that the Department of Defense was monitoring the route of an alleged spy balloon from China. The episode has generated a new wave of tensions between Beijing and Washington, which caused the postponement of a trip by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China scheduled for the next few days.
A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, on February 1, 2023, in this image obtained from social media. Chase Doak/Reuters
More specifically, Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said Friday that the US government has been tracking the balloon — which is as big as three buses — for several days as it made its way over the north of the country. , adding that it was “traveling at an altitude well above commercial air traffic and does not present a physical or military threat to people on the ground.”
As of Friday, senior military officials had advised US President Joe Biden not to shoot it down for fear the debris could pose a threat to the safety of people on the ground, the defense official said.
China’s Foreign Ministry said the balloon entered US airspace by accident. But the State Department said the balloon’s presence on US soil was “a clear violation of our sovereignty, as well as international law, and it is unacceptable that this has happened.”
