The photo was taken from the cockpit of a US military reconnaissance aircraft. A day later, the US military shot down the Chinese balloon over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the state of South Carolina. The ball was recovered at the end of last week. “Most of the balloon, including the cargo, has been recovered,” Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said Wednesday. She declined to provide further details on the analysis of the debris. This analysis is in the hands of the American federal police, the FBI.
The United States accuses China of using the balloon to spy on military installations. Beijing claims it was scientific research and the ball accidentally veered off course. The incident has caused additional strains in the already strained relations between the two countries. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and senior Chinese foreign policy official Wang Yi met on the sidelines of the Munich security conference last weekend.