Chinee claimed it, say it was a weather baloon.
China has claimed the balloon flying over the U.S. as its own. Here's everything you need to know.
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Christopher Wilson
·Senior Writer
Fri, February 3, 2023 at 8:30 AM CST·4 min read
In this article:
Antony Blinken
American government official and 71th U.S. Secretary of State
A balloon flies in the sky over Billings, Montana, U.S. February 1, 2023. (Chase Doak/via Reuters)
China has claimed responsibility for the balloon spotted over Montana, apologizing and stating it was used for weather research.
“The airship is from China,”
the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday morning. “It is a civilian airship used for research, mainly meteorological, purposes. Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.
“The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into U.S. airspace due to force majeure. The Chinese side will continue communicating with the U.S. side and properly handle this unexpected situation caused by force majeure.”
The Pentagon announced Thursday that a surveillance balloon it believed belonged to China was floating over Montana. The news came days before
Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to arrive in Beijing, the highest-ranking member of the Biden administration to visit the superpower. Following China’s statement,
Bloomberg reported that Blinken was postponing his trip.
About the balloon
At a briefing Thursday, the Pentagon said the balloon had been observed via multiple methods for a number of days, including piloted aircraft. A senior defense official said the balloon wasn’t shot down over concerns about the damage that could cause. CNN reported that the balloon was
the size of three buses.
“We did assess that it was large enough to cause damage from the debris field if we downed it over an area,” the official said. “We had been looking at whether there was an option yesterday over some sparsely populated areas in Montana. But we just couldn’t buy down the risk enough to feel comfortable recommending shooting it down yesterday.”
Montana is home to one of the country’s three nuclear missile silos, located at Malmstrom Air Force Base. The official added that it was unlikely the balloon could provide additional surveillance data versus what China could get from a low altitude satellite and that it didn’t pose a significant danger to the area in its current state, flying above commercial airline routes.