U.S. Military recovery of Chinese Spy Balloon deemed a success
Thursday, February 16 marked the conclusion of U.S. military efforts to recover the remnants of the Chinese Spy Balloon shot down off the South Carolina coast on February 4, after that balloon crisscrossed the U.S. and made its way over the Atlantic Ocean. Any parts of that balloon that could be recovered have been recovered; and yesterday, officials confirmed that their analysis of the remnants ”reinforces conclusions that it was a Chinese spy balloon,” according to the military.
About ten days ago, the U.S. Navy released the first images of the recovery effort to retrieve that balloon. Initial concerns included the prospect that the balloon could have been rigged with explosives. The Navy used underwater drones, warships, and inflatable vessels during their recovery operation.
When that operation commenced, Gen. Glen VanHerck of the U.S. Northern Command informed the media that the balloon was approximately 200 feet tall and was carrying sensors the size of a small jet airplane. The debris associated with the balloon was located about 50 feet below the ocean surface and was spread throughout an area about 15 football fields long by 15 football fields wide.
Now fully recovered, all of that balloon debris has been packed up and is on its way to FBI forensic labs in Virginia for further analysis, according to Military.com.
There are still a few key questions to be answered regarding that Chines Spy Balloon, like:
- … what, if any, intelligence it was able to collect as it flew over sensitive military sites in the United States, and whether it was able to transmit anything back to China?
- … how much navigational control did China have over the balloon as it flew over U.S. airspace?
In addition to the spy balloon, three other unidentified aerial objects were shot out of North American skies: one over Lake Huron, one over Canada and one over Alaska between Feb. 10 and Feb. 12. ~ ABC News
Related, see:
FBI Investigators are now analyzing the ‘guts’ of that Chinese Spy Balloon. For more on the successful recovery of the balloon shot down by a U.S. fighter jet on February 4, see the video accompanying this article.
(Cover photo: Sailors prep material recovered off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C. for transport to the FBI, in Virginia Beach, Va. – Image credit: Ryan Seelbach / U.S. Navy )
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook. Twitter & Instagram
