The US has shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that had flown over sensitive military sites across the country.
TV footage showed a small explosion before the balloon began falling down towards the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Carolina.
When asked about the aircraft on Saturday, President Joe Biden told reporters ‘we’re going to take care of it’.
US military jets were seen flying in the vicinity and ships were deployed in the water to mount the recovery operation.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Coast Guard worked to clear the airspace and water below the balloon as it reached the ocean.
Officials were aiming to time the operation so they could recover as much of the debris as possible before it sinks into the ocean.
The Pentagon had previously estimated that any debris field would be substantial.
The balloon was spotted on Saturday morning over the Carolinas as it approached the coast.
In preparation for the operation, the FAA Administration temporarily closed airspace over the coastline, including the airports in Charleston and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina.
The FAA rerouted air traffic from the area and warned of delays as a result of the flight restrictions.
The Coast Guard advised mariners to immediately leave the area because of US military operations ‘that present a significant hazard’.
Mr Biden had been inclined to down the balloon over land when he was first briefed on it on Tuesday, but Pentagon officials advised against it, warning that the potential risk to people on the ground outweighed the assessment of potential Chinese intelligence gains.
The public disclosure of the balloon this week prompted the cancellation of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Beijing for talks aimed at reducing US-China tensions.
The Chinese government on Saturday sought to play down the cancellation.
‘In actuality, the US and China have never announced any visit, the US making any such announcement is their own business, and we respect that,’ China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
China has continued to claim that the balloon was merely a weather research ‘airship’ that had been blown off course.
The Pentagon rejected that out of hand – as well as China’s contention that it was not being used for surveillance and had only limited navigational ability.
The balloon was spotted over Montana, which is home to one of America’s three nuclear missile silo fields at Malmstrom Air Force Base.
The Pentagon also acknowledged reports of a second balloon flying over Latin America.
‘We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon,’ Brig Gen Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a question about the second balloon.
Beijing has denied any claims of spying and said it is a civilian-use balloon intended for meteorology research.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised that the balloon’s journey was out of its control and urged the US not to ‘smear’ it based on the balloon.
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