US continues research into downed Chinese balloon

Contours of a diplomatic crisis that are becoming clearer

US continues research into downed Chinese balloon

Contours of a diplomatic crisis that are becoming clearer. The United States has recovered significant parts of sensors and electronics from a Chinese balloon shot down in early February, the US military announced on Monday (February 13th).

"Teams were able to recover significant debris from the site, including all priority sensors and identified electronics as well as large portions of the structure," the North American Command said in a statement.

For Washington, there is no doubt that it was a Chinese spy balloon, which entered American territory several days before being shot down. Beijing, for its part, assured that it was a civil aircraft used for research purposes, mainly meteorological.

This balloon was shot down on February 4 by an F-22 fighter jet off the coast of South Carolina and teams were immediately deployed offshore to recover the debris at sea.

American fighter jets have since shot down three mysterious flying objects, one over Alaska (northwest), another over the Yukon in Canada's northwest and the third over Lake Huron, in the northern United States.