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The US Navy has released photos of the debris of a suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the Atlantic Ocean by an American F-22 fighter jet on February 4.
The photos were shared on social media by the US Fleet Forces Command on Tuesday.
The balloon was recovered a day after it was shot down off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, according to the BBC.
The debris from the balloon was spread across 11 kilometers of the Atlantic Ocean, according to the Navy, and two naval ships were dispatched to the area.
The photos showed piles of balloon material being manually hauled aboard.
The sailors who recovered the debris on Sunday were part of the the Navy’s specialist explosives team, according to the US Fleet Forces Command.
According to CNN, the debris has been sent to an FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia, for analysis to determine whether it was indeed spy equipment.
On Monday, Gen. Glen VanHerck, commander of US Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), told reporters that the balloon stood about 200 feet tall and carried a payload weighing hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds.
On February 2, US defense officials announced that they were tracking the “strange object” and would shoot it down once it was safely over water.
The discovery of the balloon set off a diplomatic crisis, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken immediately calling off a weekend trip to China — which would be the first such high level US-China meeting there in years — over the “irresponsible act”.
On Tuesday, US officials said the Pentagon sought to arrange a phone call between Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart after the balloon was shot down, but was rebuffed by Beijing, reports the BBC.
“Lines between our militaries are particularly important in moments like this,” defence press secretary Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said in a statement. “Unfortunately, the PRC (People’s Republic of China) has declined our request.”
China had admitted ownership of the balloon on Monday, saying it was used for flight tests and had “seriously deviated” from its flight course “by mistake”.
“China is a responsible country. We have always strictly abided by international law. We have informed all relevant parties and appropriately handled the situation, which did not pose any threats to any countries,” CNN quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning as saying to reporters.
On February 3, the Pentagon reported that a second Chinese spy balloon had been spotted over Latin America, with sightings reported over Costa Rica and Venezuela.
According to Colombia’s Air Force, an identified object — believed to be a balloon — was detected above 55,000 feet in the country’s airspace.
It claims it followed the object until it left the airspace and that it posed no threat to national security.
Source:IANS
