US military fighter jets shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon as it hovered over the country’s coast.
Footage has emerged showing a balloon that has been flying over the country since Wednesday (February 1) crashed into the sea after a small explosion near South Carolina.
The Department of Defense confirmed that the balloon was dropped over US territorial waters.
The operation closed three airports and closed airspace off the coast of North and South Carolina.
It comes after US leader Joe Biden said earlier today that the country is “taking care” of a balloon China claims was used for meteorological research and entered US airspace.
After the shooting, President Biden said, “We successfully shot it down, and I want to congratulate our airmen who did it.”
Biden added that on Wednesday he ordered the Pentagon to shoot down the Chinese spy balloon as soon as possible.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, who first announced the shooting, said the balloon would be used by China “to survey strategic installations in the continental United States.”
Prior to the shooting, the US government ordered flights around the South Carolina coast to be suspended due to undisclosed “national security efforts” at the time.
Earlier, Washington called the balloon a “clear violation” of US sovereignty.
An eyewitness to the shooting said that a jet flew out of the plane and hit the balloon, but there was no explosion, and it began to fall.
Earlier this week, the military advised against launching the balloon while it was over Montana due to the risk of falling debris.
China expressed regret that the “airship” used for civil meteorological and other scientific purposes entered US airspace.
China’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday said the airship’s flight over the United States was force majeure, accusing US politicians and the media of using the situation to discredit Beijing.
A suspected Chinese spy balloon prompted US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to postpone a visit to China this week that was due to start on Friday.
Additional coverage from Reuters.
Source: I News
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