02/18/2023 – 08:23
The United States has completed the task of recovering the remains of a Chinese balloon for alleged surveillance purposes, which was shot down earlier this month along its Atlantic coast, the Pentagon announced on Friday (17).
“The last pieces of the remains are being transferred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory in Virginia for counterintelligence purposes,” he added.
The balloon crossed much of the United States before being shot down over the Atlantic Ocean off South Carolina by an American F-22 Raptor fighter on February 4.
Beijing insisted it was a lost weather observation device, while Washington described it as a sophisticated high-altitude spy vehicle.
Relations between China and the United States became even more strained after the balloon incident.
The Pentagon also announced the end of the search for two other downed planes, one off the north coast of Alaska on February 10 and the other over Lake Huron on the Canadian border two days later.
These searches, carried out in collaboration with Canadian authorities, were unsuccessful, according to a press release.
Washington later said preliminary evidence suggested the planes were not part of a broader Chinese spy program.
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