{"id":12468,"date":"2023-02-05T17:04:58","date_gmt":"2023-02-05T17:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/cape-verde\/all-news\/large-chinese-spy-balloon-spotted-over-the-us-china-says-it-is-a-weather-device"},"modified":"2023-02-05T17:04:58","modified_gmt":"2023-02-05T17:04:58","slug":"large-chinese-spy-balloon-spotted-over-the-us-china-says-it-is-a-weather-device","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/cape-verde\/all-news\/large-chinese-spy-balloon-spotted-over-the-us-china-says-it-is-a-weather-device","title":{"rendered":"Large Chinese \u201cSpy\u201d Balloon Spotted Over The US, China Says It Is A Weather Device"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Cape verde. <\/strong><\/span>China\u2019s foreign ministry on Friday said that it regretted the \u201cunintended entry\u201d of its balloon into US airspace.<\/p>\n

US defence officials said they believed the balloon, which has been reported in US media as being about the size of three buses, was in fact a \u201chigh-altitude surveillance\u201d device.<\/p>\n

The balloon was spotted above sensitive areas in recent days including over the city of Billings in Montana, home to some of the US\u2019s nuclear missile silos.<\/p>\n

The US decided not to shoot down the balloon because of the danger of hurting people on the ground from falling debris.<\/p>\n

The US government prepared fighter jets including F-22s, to shoot down the balloon if ordered.<\/p>\n

However, in a statement, China\u2019s foreign ministry said the balloon was used for \u201cmainly meteorological\u201d purposes and had deviated from its planned route. Said the statement:<\/p>\n

Affected by the Westerlies and with limited self-steering capability, the airship deviated far from its planned course.<\/p>\n

The Chinese side regrets the unintended entry of the airship into US airspace due to force majeure.<\/p>\n

The statement referred to the incident as an \u201cunexpected situation\u201d and said Beijing would continue to communicate with the US side.<\/p>\n

The balloon flew over Alaska\u2019s Aleutian Islands and through Canada before appearing over Billings on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

During Thursday\u2019s briefing at the Pentagon, US defence officials said the balloon was \u201cappearing to hang out for a longer period of time\u201d than others tracked by the US over the past several years.<\/p>\n

Reporting from the White House in Washington, DC, Al Jazeera\u2019s Kimberly Halkett said:<\/p>\n

It was spotted by people on the ground who were wondering what was in the sky. That is how the US government first learned about this, incredibly. It was then that the US government started tracking it.<\/p>\n

There are going to have to be some answers as to why it was bystanders who first spotted this and not the military or the US government.<\/p>\n

President Joe Biden was briefed and asked the military to present options, according to a senior administration official who spoke to Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Defence secretary Lloyd Austin and Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised against shooting down the balloon because of risks to the safety of people on the ground.<\/p>\n

President Biden accepted that recommendation.<\/p>\n

<\/b><\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Cape verde<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Cape verde. China\u2019s foreign ministry on Friday said that it regretted the \u201cunintended entry\u201d of its balloon into US airspace. US defence officials said they believed the balloon, which has been reported in US media as being about the size of three buses, was in fact a \u201chigh-altitude surveillance\u201d device. The balloon was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":12467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[233,331,328],"class_list":["post-12468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-miscellaneous","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-cape-verde","tag-cape-verde"],"yoast_head":"\nLarge Chinese \u201cSpy\u201d Balloon Spotted Over The US, China Says It Is A Weather Device - Cape Verde<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/cape-verde\/all-news\/large-chinese-spy-balloon-spotted-over-the-us-china-says-it-is-a-weather-device\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Large Chinese \u201cSpy\u201d Balloon Spotted Over The US, China Says It Is A Weather Device - Cape Verde\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Africa-Press – Cape verde. China\u2019s foreign ministry on Friday said that it regretted the \u201cunintended entry\u201d of its balloon into US airspace. US defence officials said they believed the balloon, which has been reported in US media as being about the size of three buses, was in fact a \u201chigh-altitude surveillance\u201d device. 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