It had been flying over US airspace for several days. The Chinese balloon was shot down on Saturday night by the US military off the east coast of the United States, several US media announce. In videos broadcast by television channels, the ball appeared to fall vertically.
A few hours earlier, Joe Biden had warned that the authorities were going to “deal with it”, without further details. Air traffic had also been suspended at three airports in the southeastern United States as a “national security” measure.
A “weather” tool according to China
The Chinese balloon, which the Pentagon says is a “spy” balloon, was observed on Saturday over North Carolina on the east coast of the United States. It also flew over the state of Montana, which is home to nuclear missile silos, before moving east.
Beijing has acknowledged that it was indeed a device from China, describing it as a “civilian aircraft, used for research purposes, mainly meteorological”. The machine would have “deviated from its trajectory,” added a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, expressing his country’s “regret” for this “involuntary” violation of US airspace.
Source: BFM TV
