US sources have confirmed that a Chinese balloon, which was discovered in the US state of Nebraska, was a military device. The balloon, which was found on March 9, was determined to have been launched from a site in Inner Mongolia, and was identified as a type of high-altitude surveillance device used by the Chinese military. US officials are concerned that the balloon may have been used to spy on US military sites. The Chinese government has denied any involvement in the incident.
Balloon is pulled into the boat
US intelligence sources have insisted the balloon shot down on Saturday was used by the Chinese military for espionage.
Unnamed officials told the Washington Post they believed such balloons were being used to gather intelligence on strategically important countries.
These countries included Japan, India, Taiwan and the Philippines.
Chinese officials have already denied using such balloons for surveillance.
An official told the Washington Post that US intelligence believed some of the balloons were being flown from Hainan, a southern China island home to a naval base.
CBS News, citing an unnamed senior Biden administration official, confirmed that US intelligence believed the balloon was part of an “air surveillance program being conducted by the People’s Liberation Army out of Hainan.”
On Monday, the US briefed 40 allied countries on the alleged espionage, a senior Biden administration official confirmed to CBS News.
In that briefing, Assistant Secretary of State Wendy Sherman also revealed that a balloon had circled the planet in 2019, flying over Hawaii and Florida.
According to the Biden administration official, a group of US congressional leaders responsible for overseeing national intelligence affairs, known as the Gang of Eight, will be briefed on the development on Wednesday and Congress will be updated on Thursday.
Last week, the Pentagon said a second Chinese spy balloon had been sighted over Costa Rica and Venezuela.
The discovery of alleged spy balloons has sparked a diplomatic row between the US and China.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a trip to Beijing scheduled to take place just days after the balloon was first spotted. It would have been the first such meeting between the two countries in years.
“This is both an unacceptable and irresponsible action,” he said. “It’s even more irresponsible to come on the eve of a long-planned visit.”
US defense officials have previously said at least three suspected Chinese spy balloons flew over the country during Donald Trump’s presidency.
And according to US officials, the downed balloon had flown over Alaska and Canada before surfacing in the US state of Montana, which is home to a number of sensitive nuclear missile sites.
On Monday, the US Navy released images of the balloon’s wreckage after it was shot out of the sky.
It was believed to be nearly 200 feet (60 m) high, and officials said the debris had spread over 7 miles (11 km) of the Atlantic Ocean.
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