The US military announced on Monday it had retrieved critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was shot down by a US fighter jet off South Carolina’s coast on Feb. 4, including key sensors presumably used for intelligence gathering.
“Crews have been able to recover significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified as well as large sections of the structure,” the US military’s Northern Command said in a statement.
The Chinese balloon, which Beijing denies was a government espionage craft, flew over the United States and Canada for a week before President Joe Biden ordered its destruction.
The incident strained relations between Washington and Beijing, prompting America’s top ambassador to cancel a trip to China.
It also prompted the US military to comb the skies for other objects that were not being detected by radar, resulting in an unprecedented three shootdowns between Friday and Sunday.
The US military and the Biden administration have recognized that much about the most recent unmanned objects remains unclear, including how they remained aloft, who created them, and whether they have been collecting intelligence.
On Monday, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin attempted to reassure Americans about the dangers presented by the mystery objects. The suspected Chinese surveillance balloon drifted to the ocean after being shot down off the shore of Surfside Beach, South Carolina,
“I want to reassure Americans that these objects do not present a military threat to anyone on the ground,” Austin said, speaking to reporters as he landed in Brussels for a NATO gathering.