'Significant debris' recovered from downed suspected Chinese spy balloon, U.S. military says
Object was shot down by fighter jet on Feb. 4 after it entered the U.S. through Canada
The U.S. military said on Monday it had recovered critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon downed by a U.S. 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 U.S. military's Northern Command said in a statement.
The balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, spent a week flying over the U.S. and Canada before U.S. President Joe Biden ordered it shot down. The episode strained ties between Washington and Beijing, leading America's top diplomat to postpone a trip to China.
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It also led to the U.S. military scouring the skies for other objects that were not being captured by radar, leading to an unprecedented three shootdowns in three days.
The White House on Monday defended downing those three objects, even as it acknowledged that officials had no indication the objects were intended for surveillance in the same manner as the suspected spy balloon.
The three objects — including one shot down Sunday over Lake Huron, another downed Saturday in Yukon and a third in Alaska on Friday — were travelling at such a low altitude as to pose a risk to civilian air traffic, said White House national security spokesperson John Kirby.
While the Biden administration does not yet have evidence that they were equipped for spying purposes — or even that they belonged to China — officials have not ruled that out, he said.
"These were decisions based purely and simply on what was in the best interests of the American people," Kirby said.
"Because we have not been able to definitively assess what these most recent objects are, we acted out of an abundance of caution."
Beijing said Monday it had no information on the latest three objects. The Chinese government said the balloon shot down off the Carolinas was a civilian research craft that had mistakenly blown off course, and accused the United States of overreacting.
Kirby spoke from the White House podium hours after China alleged that more than 10 U.S. high-altitude balloons have flown in its airspace during the past year without its permission.
American officials have vigorously denied the claim, with Kirby saying Monday, "We are not flying surveillance balloons over China."
Recoveries ongoing
None of the three most recent objects have been recovered, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters in Brussels, where he was scheduled to attend a NATO defence ministers meeting this week.
The U.S. Air Force general overseeing North American airspace said a recovery effort will be undertaken to gain more information about an octagonal object shot down over Lake Huron.
Gen. Glen VanHerck, head of North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) and Northern Command, said the object likely fell into Canadian waters.
However, Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said Canada didn't have any evidence to suggest the debris drifted into Canadian water.
Either way, Canadian Fisheries Minister Joyce Murray, who is also the minister responsible for the Canadian Coast Guard, said CCGS Griffon will soon be in Lake Huron to help recover debris in a "key search area."
In Yukon, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCMP are leading a joint mission to the area where an object was brought down on Saturday.
Trudeau said wintry weather in the northern territory is making the search for debris difficult.
The unidentified object was taken down over sparsely populated territory, he said, and whatever is recovered could pose a safety risk.
With files from CBC News and The Associated Press