The US military said on Monday it had recovered critical electronics from the suspected Chinese spy balloon downed by a US fighter jet off South Carolina's coast on Feb 4, including key sensors presumably used for intelligence gathering. The Chinese balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before 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. It also led to the US military scouring the skies for other objects that were not being captured by radar, leading to an unprecedented three shootdowns in the three days between Friday and Sunday. The US military and the Biden administration have acknowledged that much about the most recent, unmanned objects remains unknown, including how they stay aloft, who built them and whether they may have been collecting intelligence.

Source: bd News24 February 14, 2023 03:00 UTC