U.S. officials announced Saturday afternoon that the military has downed the suspected Chinese spy balloon that was spotted days earlier hovering over sensitive military facilities in Montana, disrupting the Biden administration’s recent efforts to cool tensions with Beijing.
The suspected surveillance aircraft was downed off the Carolina coast, the Associated Press reported, and an operation is currently under way to recover the resulting debris.
Television footage taken Saturday afternoon showed a small explosion off the Carolina coast, and fighter jets could be seen canvassing the area, the AP reported. The FAA closed the airspace around the balloon Saturday morning, and the Coast Guard warned local mariners to keep their distance.
The Pentagon first became aware of the balloon on Saturday, January 28, when it entered U.S. airspace but decided not to publicize the incursion so as not to jeopardize Secretary of State Blinken’s forthcoming trip to Beijing, Bloomberg reported. After the balloon began generating national media attention, the State Department opted to postpone the trip, though that decision was not made until Friday, hours before Blinken was set to depart, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Military officials justified their failure to immediately shoot down the balloon on the grounds that the resulting debris could have harmed civilians or property.
Civilians first spotted the balloon on Wednesday making its way over a military base outside Billings, Mont., that houses intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Chinese officials insist that the balloon was a civilian research craft that was blown off course, though the Pentagon rejected that explanation during a Friday press conference.
“We know that it’s a surveillance balloon,” the Pentagon press secretary said.
Asked about the balloon earlier on Saturday, President Biden said, “We’re going to take care of it.”
In a Saturday morning statement, the Chinese government brushed off the cancellation of Blinken’s visit.
“In actuality, the U.S. and China have never announced any visit, the U.S. making any such announcement is their own business, and we respect that,” China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Blinked told reporters that he told his counterpart in Beijing during a phone call that the balloon’s entrance into U.S. airspace was “an irresponsible act and that [China’s] decision to take this action on the eve of my visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions that we were prepared to have.”
Editor’s Note: This post has been updated to clarify the timeline of events leading up to the downing of the balloon.