Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Tuesday, Aug 05, 2025

Chinese balloon sensors recovered from ocean, says US

Chinese balloon sensors recovered from ocean, says US

The sensors from the first suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down over the US have been recovered from the Atlantic Ocean, the US military says.
Search crews found “significant debris from the site, including all of the priority sensor and electronics pieces identified”, said US Northern Command.

The FBI is examining the items, which the US says were used to spy on sensitive military sites.

The US has shot down three more objects since the first one on Feb. 4.

“Large sections of the structure” were also recovered on Monday off the coast of South Carolina, military officials say.

About 30-40ft (9-12m) of the balloon’s antennas are among the items found, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

US officials said the high-altitude balloon originated in China and was used for surveillance, but China said it was merely a weather-monitoring airship that had blown astray.

Since that first incident, American fighter jets have shot down three more high-altitude objects — over Alaska, Canada’s Yukon territory, and Lake Huron on the US-Canada border.

In the Lake Huron strike, the first Sidewinder missile fired by the US F-16 warplane missed its target and exploded in an unknown location, US media reported, citing military sources.

The second missile hit the target. Each Sidewinder missile costs over $400,000 (£330,000).

Officials have said the slow-moving unidentified objects, all of which have been smaller than the first balloon, may be difficult for military pilots to target.

White House spokesman John Kirby said on Monday the three other objects were shot down “out of an abundance of caution”.

They did not pose “any direct threat to people on the ground”, but were destroyed “to protect our security, our interests and flight safety”, he said.

The balloon shot down over South Carolina was described by officials as the size of three buses.

The second object, over Alaska, was described as the size of a “small car”. The third object, over the Yukon, was “cylindrical”. And the fourth, over Michigan, was said to be “octagonal” with strings attached.

A Pentagon memo later reported in US media said the flying object shot down over Yukon appeared to be a “small, metallic balloon with a tethered payload below it”.

Defense officials also wrote in the memo that the object shot down in Michigan “subsequently slowly descended” into the water after impact.

The recovery of the balloon shot down on Feb. 4 was delayed amid foul weather.

Efforts are under way to collect debris from where the other objects were blown out of the sky.

Canada’s federal police force said on Monday that the search area in the Yukon Territory was about 3,000 sq km (1,870 sq miles), including “rugged mountain terrain with a very high level of snowpack”.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police spokesman Sean McGillis said there was a possibility the fragments from the Yukon and Lake Huron incidents might never be recovered because of their remote locations.

Canadian Armed Forces Maj.-Gen. Paul Prévost said all three of the most recent objects to be shot down appeared to be “lighter than air” machines, and described the Lake Huron object as “a suspected balloon”.

The military chief added that any members of the public who discovered debris should contact the police directly.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is considering meeting China’s most senior diplomat, Wang Yi, later this week at a security conference in Munich, Germany, sources familiar with the negotiations told US media on Monday.

Amid the row over high-altitude aircraft, America’s top diplomat canceled a visit to Beijing that was initially planned for last week.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
British Tourist Dies Following Hair Transplant in Turkey, Police Investigate
WhatsApp Users Targeted in New Scam Involving Account Takeovers
Trump Deploys Nuclear Submarines After Threats from Former Russian President Medvedev
Germany’s Economic Breakdown and the Return of Militarization: From Industrial Collapse to a New Offensive Strategy
Germany Enters Fiscal Crisis as Cabinet Approves €174 Billion in New Debt
IMF Upgrades Global Growth Forecast as Weaker Dollar Supports Outlook
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
Kurdistan Workers Party Takes Symbolic Step Towards Peace in Northern Iraq
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Russia Formally Recognizes Taliban Government in Afghanistan
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Mediators Edge Closer to Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Agreement
Germany Seeks Taliban Deal to Deport Afghan Migrants
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
Marc Marquez Claims Victory at Dutch Grand Prix Amidst Family Misfortune
Iran Executes Alleged Israeli Spies and Arrests Hundreds Amid Post-War Crackdown
Trump Asserts Readiness for Further Strikes on Iran Amid Nuclear Tensions
Qatar Airways Clears Backlog of Passengers Following Missile Threats
Iran's Parliament Votes to Suspend Cooperation with Nuclear Watchdog
Trump Announces Upcoming US-Iran Meeting Amid Controversial Airstrikes
Trump Moves to Reshape Middle East Following Israel-Iran Conflict
NATO Leaders Endorse Plan for Increased Defence Spending
U.S. Crude Oil Prices Drop Below $65 Amid Market Volatility
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
×