WASHINGTON – The Pentagon said Friday that the Chinese “spy balloon” is still flying over the US and is moving in an easterly direction, after reporting yesterday that it had been sighted in Montana, in the northwest of the country.
The Pentagon spokesman, General Pat Ryder, specified in a press conference that the balloon is 60,000 feet from the surface (18,288 meters) above the center of the continental United States.
“The balloon has changed its trajectory,” Ryder said, not wanting to go into detail about its exact location and noting that it “is likely” to fly over the country for a “few days.”
He explained that the airship is “maneuverable” and that under its surveillance device it has a large cargo space, the content of which he did not specify.
Despite the fact that they have concluded that at the moment it does not pose a threat, the US spokesman stressed that the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is following their movements “closely”.
“Military commanders have assessed that there is no physical or military threat to the people on the surface,” the general remarked, although they will continue to monitor their movements and review “the options” available.
The US has decided not to destroy the device because it does not currently pose a danger and for fear that the fall of its debris could be dangerous to the surface.
Ryder insisted that it is a “surveillance” device and not, as China has said, a “civilian balloon used for research purposes, mainly meteorological”. He claimed that as soon as it was detected they acted “immediately” to prevent it from collecting “sensitive” information.
The US confirmed on Thursday that the device was flying over Montana, a northwestern US state that is home to one of three existing nuclear missile silo fields on US soil.
The other two atomic silo fields are located in two states bordering Montana: North Dakota to the east and Wyoming to the south.
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