Chinese sensors recovered from the ocean, according to the US
The sensors from a Chinese spy balloon believed to have been shot down after crossing the United States have been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, according to the US military.
US Northern Command reported that search crews discovered “significant debris from the site, including all of the identified priority sensor and electronic pieces.”
The FBI is investigating the items, which, according to the United States, were used to spy on sensitive military sites.
The United States has shot down three additional objects since the first one on February 4.
Large sections of the structure were also recovered off the coast of South Carolina on Monday, according to military officials.
Approximately 30-40 feet (9-12 meters) of the balloon’s antenna array were discovered, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.
US officials asserted that the high-altitude balloon originated in China and was used for surveillance, whereas China claimed that it was merely a weather-monitoring airship that had strayed from its intended path.
American fighter jets have shot down three additional high-altitude objects over Alaska, Canada’s Yukon territory, and Lake Huron on the US-Canada border since the initial incident.
According to US media reports citing military sources, the first Sidewinder missile fired by an F-22 warplane during the Lake Huron attack missed its target and exploded in an unknown location. According to reports, the second missile struck its target.
Each Sidewinder missile is priced at more than $400,000 (£330,000).
The slow-moving, smaller-than-the-original-balloon unidentified objects, according to officials, may be difficult for military pilots to target.
John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House, stated on Monday that the three other objects were destroyed “out of an abundance of caution.”
He stated that they did not pose “any direct threat to people on the ground,” but were destroyed “to protect our security, our interests, and flight safety.”
The balloon that crashed over South Carolina was the size of three buses, according to officials.
