The China balloon shot down by the U.S. was equipped to detect and collect intelligence signals as part of a huge, military-linked aerial surveillance program that targeted more than 40 countries, the Biden administration declared Thursday, citing imagery from American U-2 spy planes.
Officials explained their reasoning for not shooting the balloon down sooner, including threats to civilians in Alaska and dangerous recovery conditions.
U.S. officials on Friday confirmed that an unknown object was shot down off the coast of Alaska, less than a week after a Chinese spy balloon was destroyed.
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Before the U.S. offered new information, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson repeated the nation's insistence the large unmanned balloon was a civilian meteorological airship that had blown off course.