The spy balloon made multiple passes over some key locations and was able to send Beijing the information it gathered instantaneously.
Chinese officials have maintained that the balloon was weather-related and strayed off its intended course.US officials have rejected Beijing’s claims that the balloon was not for intelligence surveillance.State Department officials have said that Beijing has deployed similar balloons in more than 40 countries recently and that the balloon shot down off the US coast “was clearly for intelligence surveillance and inconsistent with the equipment onboard weather balloons.
Officials have not said what agency in China was responsible for the spy balloon, which featured a self-destruct mechanism that could have been activated by Chinese officials. It’s unclear if it suffered a malfunction or if China chose not to self-destruct the balloon. The balloon first entered US airspace over Alaska on Jan. 28, though the Pentagon made the official announcement of the spy aircraft on Feb. 2 when it traveled from Montana to the Carolinas. It was later shot down off the South Carolina coast on Feb. 4.
It took US officials 12 days to collect all of the debris from the balloon after it was shot down off the coast of South Carolina.200 feet tall with a payload the size of a jetlinerThe Navy transported pieces of the balloon to shore, where they were then taken into custody by federal investigators and sent to the FBI Lab at Quantico, Va.Share this article:
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
History As It Happens: Enter BeijingOne consequence of the United States’ massive military failures in the Greater Middle East is its waning influence in a region where U.S. leaders once dreamt democracy would spread outward from Kabul and Baghdad. HistoryAsItHappens podcast
Leer más »