Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023.
Photo: U.S. Navy
The U.S. Navy on Tuesday released photos showing the recovery of the remnants of a Chinese spy balloon that was shot down over the weekend on the orders of President Joe Biden off the coast of South Carolina.
The photos were taken Sunday, a day after an American fighter jet fired on the 200-foot-tall balloon, sending it hurtling down into the Atlantic Ocean in a dramatic scene caught live on TV.
China has claimed that the balloon, which first was spotted by the public flying over Montana last Wednesday, was a wayward “civilian unmanned airship” that was primarily conducting weather research.
Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023.
Photo: U.S. Navy
But Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said the balloon was being used by China “in an attempt to surveil strategic sites in the continental United States.”
Five Navy ships were involved in the effort to recover debris from the balloon over a 10-square-mile search area off the coast of Myrtle Beach.
The debris field was the size of 1,500 square meters, according to officials, who said the balloon’s payload weighed more than a ton.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Tuesday told reporters that the Biden administration “is looking at other actions that can be taken” in response to the balloon.
Schumer, a New York Democrat, said the current state of relations between the U.S. and China is “tense.”
Sailors assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group 2 recover a high-altitude surveillance balloon off the coast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Feb. 5, 2023.
Photo: U.S. Navy
After the balloon was spotted, but before it was shot down, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken canceled a planned trip to China.
During a hearing on Capitol Hill,…
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