The Chinese balloon that flew over the United States earlier this year used US-made equipment to spy on Americans and gather information, including photos, videos and more, US officials said, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Multiple defense and intelligence agencies analyzed pieces of the Chinese spy balloon after it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina in February.
Authorities found that the spy balloon was equipped with American equipment as well as specialized Chinese sensors, indicating the craft’s purpose was to spy, not monitor the weather, as the Chinese Communist Party previously claimed.
Authorities allowed the Chinese spy balloon to make the nearly week-long journey across the United States out of fear that shooting it down would cause damage from falling debris, authorities said before shooting it down.
In the days before it was finally shot down, officials considered taking down the balloon with a giant net or a hook, The New York Times reported, however the balloon was so large that the only viable option was to fire a missile at it, he said. a senior administration official at the time.
The Pentagon said there was an opportunity to shoot it down over a sparsely populated area of Montana, but fears of injury or property damage from falling debris still prevented action.
Authorities said the payload of surveillance technology carried by the spy balloon was the size of three school buses and that it was flying at about 60,000 feet, the AP reported.
A senior defense official said the United States had still been able to obtain information about the balloon while it was visible in the air.
“The surveillance balloon overflight of US soil was of intelligence value to us,” the official said. “I can’t go into more detail, but we were able to study and scrutinize the balloon and its equipment, which has been valuable.”
Keep reading:
Chinese spy balloon may have had technology to see through the materials, according to leaked document
· Chinese spy balloon could not have collected more information than what was obtained from satellites: Pentagon
Chinese government vows retaliation for sanctions on US-imposed institutions related to spy balloon